Joseph D'Acquisto (born October 30, 1960) 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 1996 to 1998 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 ...

Roadblock (also spelled Road Block).

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1987–1996)

D'Acquisto debuted on October 28, 1987. He competed in New England and East Coast independent promotions during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably as a mainstay of

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 ...

, where he wrestled as "The Rochester Roadblock". In 1990, D'Acquisto was the subject of an article by journalist Glen Duffy published in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. In 1991 he made some appearances 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. In 1992, D'Acquisto made several appearances with the

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 ...

ese W*ING promotion, where he feuded with

Jason the Terrible Karl Moffat (born July 31, 1959), better known by the ring name Jason the Terrible, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling and in Japan. Professional wrestling career In August 1981, Mo ...

. He would also wrestle for the

Universal Wrestling Association The Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) was a Mexican ''Lucha Libre'' or professional wrestling promotion based in Naucalpan, Mexico State that operated from 1975 until 1995. The name of the actual promotion was Lucha Libre Internacional (LLI) ...

in Mexico, where he competed under the masked gimmick of "Torre Infernal" ("Infernal Tower"). D'Acquisto's final match in the UWA was a mask versus mask match against UWA World Heavyweight Championship

El Canek Felipe Estrada (born June 19, 1952), known as El Canek or simply Canek, is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' or masked professional wrestler best known for the 20 years he worked for the Universal Wrestling Association where he held the UWA Wo ...

, which Canek would win.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–1998)

During the late 1990s, D'Acquisto competed as a preliminary wrestler for

(WCW) as "Roadblock". In keeping with his ring name, D'Acquisto would carry a

roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: *Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events * Police chase *Robbery *Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstances ...

or a

sawhorse In woodworking, a saw-horse or sawhorse (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a trestle structure used to support a board or plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certain circles, it is also known as a ''m ...

to the ring. Roadblock made his televised debut in WCW on the October 19, 1996 episode of '' Saturday Night'' by defeating

Dale Wolfe Dusty Wolfe (born Barry Dale Wolfe on July 18, 1962), occasionally billed as Dale Wolfe and occasionally appearing as Doink the Clown, is an American retired professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Wolfe was trained by fellow wrestl ...

, a replacement for D'Acquisto's originally scheduled opponent

Randy Savage Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestl ...

. After the match, Roadblock challenged

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for ...

to a match to take place two nights later on ''

Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United ...

'', which Acquisto lost. He made his only

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

appearance in WCW at World War 3 on November 24 by participating in the namesake battle royal for a future World Heavyweight Championship opportunity. He was eliminated by the eventual winner The Giant. Roadblock spent the next two years in WCW working mainly on

WCW Saturday Night ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarna ...

WCW Pro ''WCW Pro'' is an American televised wrestling show that was presented by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Along with ''WCW WorldWide'', it was part of the WCW Disney tapings. The rights to ''WCW Pro'' now belong to WWE and 161 episodes of Mid ...

, and

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

against the likes of

Meng Meng may refer to: * Meng (surname) (孟), a Chinese surname * Master of Engineering (MEng or M.Eng.), an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering * , "M with hook", letter used in the International Phonetic Alphabet * ...

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...

, The Giant,

Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...

, and

Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. In the course of his wrest ...

. Roadblock defeated

Jim Powers James Manley (born January 4, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jim Powers. He worked for the World Wrestling Federation from 1984 to 1994, then elsewhere until 2010. He was ...

in his last WCW match on the August 1, 1998 episode of ''Saturday Night''.

Late career (1998–2012)

After leaving WCW in 1998, Roadblock appeared sporadically on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

, wrestling his final match to date in 2012.

Championships and accomplishments

*Eastern States Wrestling **Eastern States Heavyweight 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 ...

'' **Ranked No. 199 of the 500 top wrestlers of 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 1991

Luchas de Apuestas

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roadblock 1952 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from New York (state) 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers