The Pitbulls (sometimes written as The Pit Bulls) were a

professional wrestling 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 ...

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 ...

that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where they were one-time Tag Team Champions. In addition to tag team success, both members were each one time Television Champions as well.

History

World Wrestling Federation

In 1989, Wolfe and Durante wrestled briefly in 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 ...

, losing to The Hart Foundation on March 4, 1989. They also lost to

The Brain Busters The Brain Busters was the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) name for the professional wrestling tag team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Anderson and Blanchard adopted this name after joining the WWF in 1988 after leaving Jim Crockett Promotio ...

on June 27, 1989 and the Fabulous Rougeau brothers on Primetime aired on 25 September 1989.

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling and New Japan

In 1990, Wofle and Durante went to South Atlantic Pro Wrestling as the American Bulldogs and later renaming themselves the Pitbulls. They defeated the

Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a group of supervillain Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutants appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. This group exists in Marvel's shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe. These characters are the pers ...

for the tag team titles. In 1991 they went to

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

as the Mad Bull Busters. They stayed there for a year.

Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling

The Pitbulls debuted Extreme Championship Wrestling in April 1992 both competing in battle royals to crown the first ECW Heavyweight Champion. Neither were successful.

Durante Durante is both an Italian surname and a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Adriano Durante (1940-2009), Italian professional road bicycle racer *Andrew Durante (born 1982), Australian football (soccer) p ...

left shortly after, Wolfe, became known as "the Pitbull", won the Television Championship on April 16, 1994. Later 1994, Wolfe and Durante, who became "Pitbull #2", reunited The Pitbulls and had notable feuds with Public Enemy and

the Bad Breed The Bad Breed was the professional wrestling tag team of Axl Rotten with his storyline brother/real life protégé Ian Rotten. The team achieved their greatest fame in the Philadelphia professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestlin ...

, the feud with the Bad Breed culminated at the November to Remember in a match where the Losing team was forced to split up. The Pitbulls were victorious. The Pitbulls won their first and only

Tag Team Championship A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rivalri ...

on September 16, 1995 at Gangstas Paradise from

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 ...

and

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Easte ...

. They were soon joined by

Francine :''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.'' Francine is a female given name. The name is of French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques 2003), and was well used i ...

, who became their

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and dubbed herself "The Beastmaster". One month later, they lost the titles back to Raven and Richards. In 1996, The Pitbulls moved into an intense

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

with

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 ...

, which saw their manager Francine receive the ''

Total Elimination In professional wrestling double-team maneuvers are executed by multiple wrestlers instead of one and typically are used by tag teams in tag team matches. Many of these maneuvers are combination of two throws, or submission holds. Most moves are ...

'' on two occasions. The feud culminated at the first-ever

CyberSlam CyberSlam was a professional wrestling supercard event and fan convention produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1996 to 2000. Background It began in 1995 with the Double Tables event, held at the ECW Arena. The event was held for ...

in a three-on-three dog collar match, which saw Francine team with the Pitbulls against

with The Eliminators. The Pitbulls won the match after superbombing Richards and letting Francine pin Richards. However, The Eliminators hit the Total Elimination on Pitbull #1, Pitbull #2, and Francine after the match. After this, Pitbull #2 went on to win the ECW Television Championship on June 1 at the

Fight the Power Fight the Power may refer to: * "Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)", a 1975 song by the Isley Brothers * "Fight the Power" (Public Enemy song) (1989) * '' Fight the Power... Live!'', a 1989 music video compilation by Public Enemy * '' Fight the Power: G ...

event; he held the belt for only 21 days before losing it to Chris Jericho at Hardcore Heaven. On July 13, 1996 at

Heat Wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

, Francine turned on The Pitbulls and became the manager of Shane Douglas. The feud between Douglas and The Pitbulls culminated on April 13, 1997 at the first ECW

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 ...

Barely Legal, where Pitbull #2 faced Douglas for the Television Championship in a losing effort.

Independent circuit

After leaving ECW, The Pitbulls began competing 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 ...

. Pitbull #2 began a brief singles run, which included one-time reigns as the MEWF Heavyweight Champion and the second-ever JAPW Heavyweight Champion, both of which ended via title vacation due to injuries. The team returned to the tag team division as they debuted in the

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 ...

's New Jersey territory, where they won the

NWA United States Tag Team Championship The NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used for several secondary tag team championship used by various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) members since 1958. There are eleven different versions of the NWA United States Tag Team Champ ...

on two occasions in 1998 and 1999 and remained the title's final champions upon the title's deactivation 2000. They lost to the

Headbangers Headbanging is the action of violently shaking one's head in rhythm with music. It is common in the contemporary rock, punk and heavy metal music genres, where headbanging is often used by musicians on stage. Headbanging is also common in trad ...

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night ''WWF Shotgun Saturday Night'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired from January 4, 1997 through August 21, 1999 as a syndicated broadcast. ''Shotgun Saturday Night'' ...

on August 24, 1998. In 2000, the team went their separate ways as Pitbull #1 began competing under his real name along with the nickname "The Pitbull" for

Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling, or 3PW, was a hardcore professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It ran many shows from the former ECW Arena. Following the close of Extreme Championship Wrestling, many former ECW veterans, suc ...

, where he was the company's first-ever and only two-time

Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, thou ...

as well as a one-time Tag Team Champion with. They toured many promotions including Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW),

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...

(FMW) and World Wrestling Council (WWC). In 2000 they disbanded for brief period of time.

Return to ECW

On March 4, 2000 they returned to ECW as they lost to Amish Roadkill and Danny Doring.

IWA Puerto Rico

They reunited for only one night on May 12, 2002 at International Wrestling Association event in Puerto Rico defeating Bryan Madness and Maniac. This would be the last time the Pitbulls would be together. Also it was the last match for Durante.

Death of Durante

Durante died on September 25, 2003 along with his girlfriend Dianna Hulsey due to

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

s. A substance believed to be the painkiller oxycodone was found in the house but it was officially announced that he overdosed on the painkiller

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

. He and his girlfriend were found after lying in their home dead for days, all while their two small children, a 21-month-old boy and an 8-month-old girl, were apparently alone in the house with the bodies. In 2005, Wolfe appeared at

World Wrestling Entertainment 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 ...

's first-ever

One Night Stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

event to introduce the "ECW Remembers" video honoring the ECW alumni who had died, including his tag team partner Durante. After the death of Durante, Wolfe returned to the independent circuit and began competing for Pro Wrestling Unplugged as "The Pitbull" Wolfe, where he reused The Pitbull gimmick in honor of his late friend and tag team partner.

Championships and accomplishments

*Allied Powers Wrestling Federation **APWF Tag Team Championship (1 Time) *

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

**Occidental Tag Team Championship (1 Time) * Extreme Championship Wrestling ** ECW World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) ** ECW World Television Championship (

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 ...

) – Pitbull #1 (1), and Pitbull #2 (1) *Grande Wrestling Alliance **GWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) *

Hardcore Hall of Fame 2300 Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania used primarily for professional wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, and concert events. Originally known as Viking Hall, the venue has since been named Alhambra Arena, The ...

**Class of 2014 *Independent Pro Wrestling (Florida) **IPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) *High Risk Championship Wrestling **HRCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) *

(

) *

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW, formerly known as the North American Wrestling Association) was a professional wrestling promotion founded by George Scott, John Ringley and Mike Lamberth in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1990, and later taken o ...

SAPW Tag Team Championship South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW, formerly known as the North American Wrestling Association) was a professional wrestling promotion founded by George Scott, John Ringley and Mike Lamberth in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1990, and later taken o ...

(2 times)

References

External links

Online of Wrestling's page on Pitbull #1 WolfeDecember 30th, 2008 with Pitbull #1 Wolf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitbulls, The Extreme Championship Wrestling teams and stables Independent promotions teams and stables New Japan Pro-Wrestling teams and stables WWE teams and stables