Neal Hargrove, 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 ...

, Reno Riggins, (born January 13, 1967) is 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 ...

. Riggins has competed in Southeastern independent promotions including 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) during the 1990s.

Professional wrestling career

Hargrove was the final wrestler to be trained by

Tojo Yamamoto Harold Watanabe (January 6, 1927 – February 19, 1992) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto. Early life Watanabe was born in Hawaii in 1927 to a Japanese father and an American mother. He served ...

before Yamamato's death in 1992. Hargrove made his

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) debut as Reno Riggins in March 1988, spending several years as an

enhancement talent In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

, competing against many of the top

heels The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exert ...

of the time. He also appeared in a dark match losing to

Rip Rogers Mark Sciarra (born February 7, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Rip Rogers. Early life Sciarra was born in Seymour, Indiana on February 7, 1954. He graduated from Seymour High School in 1972 an ...

at the NWA's

Halloween Havoc Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE for the company's developmental brand, NXT. As the name implies, it is a Halloween-themed show held in October. It was originally produced as an annual pay-per-view ...

in October 1990. Leaving the WWF in 1992, he began competing for the USWA and eventually won the

USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship The AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title in the Continental Wrestling Association during the 1970s and 1980s. The title is part of a long lineage that was started when the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight ...

from

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 ...

in August 1992. After a brief stint in

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 ...

in early 1993, he returned to the WWF and frequently appeared as an enhancement talent (now as a heel putting

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

numerous

faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

) on

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...

until deciding to retire in early 1995. Following the close of the USWA in 1997, Hargrove came out of retirement and began teaming with

Steven Dunn Steven Lyle Doll (December 9, 1960 – March 22, 2009) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Steven Dunn in the tag team Well Dunn. Professional wrestling career Early care ...

as "The Tennessee Volunteers" in Music City Wrestling feuding with

Flash Flanagan Christopher Kindred (born April 6, 1974) is an American professional wrestler who has appeared in numerous independent wrestling leagues, such as Xtreme Championship Wrestling, as well as the global phenomenon companies, World Wrestling Entertainm ...

and

Wolfie D Kelly Warren Wolfe (born December 7, 1973) is an American professional wrestler. Wolfe is perhaps best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the ring name Wolfie D (as o ...

over the promotion's North American tag team titles (later renamed the NWA North American Tag Team Championship) during the late 1990s. They also made an appearance for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) on an episode of Shotgun Saturday Night against The Hardy Boyz. Appearing at the first

Brian Pillman Memorial Show The Brian Pillman Memorial Show was an annual professional wrestling event held between 1998 and 2001 benefiting the children of Brian Pillman and featuring talent from World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Ex ...

in 1998, he and Dunn would later compete as "Main Event" in the National Wrestling Alliance eventually winning the NWA World Tag Team titles in Eskan,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

on April 7, 2000. Hargrove now does advertising, commentating and booking for

Showtime All-Star Wrestling Showtime All-Star Wrestling and NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Rockwood, Tennessee. History SAW began in April 2007, started then business partners Reno Riggins and TJ Weatherby at Wea ...

Championships and accomplishments

*Central Wrestling Federation **CWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Krull the Deathstalker *Music City Wrestling **MCW North American Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with

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 ...

¹ **

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 ...

( 1 time) - with Steven Dunn **

NWA North American Tag Team Championship The NWA North American Tag Team Championship is an inactive professional wrestling tag team championship that was used and defended in various territories throughout the National Wrestling Alliance., prior to its being purchased in 2017 by Billy ...

( 1 time) - with Steven Dunn *

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 ...

Nashville **

(

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 Steven Dunn *''

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 # 189 of the 500 best 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 Publi ...

in 1998. *

** SAW International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Spectrum Sports **Spectrum Sports Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

( 1 time) ¹His reign as NWA World Tag Team Champion began while wrestling on a card in Saudi Arabia. Records are unclear as for what promotion he wrestled at the time, as they are for when he first became NWA North American Tag Team Champion.

References

External links

*
Reno Riggins
at
WrestleWiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riggins, Reno 1967 births American male professional wrestlers Living people People from Nashville, Tennessee Professional wrestlers from Tennessee 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA World Tag Team Champions 21st-century professional wrestlers