Glenn Ruth (born June 13, 1969) 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 ...

, better known by 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 ...

, Thrasher. For much of his career he has teamed with

Mosh Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other, typically performed to "aggressive" live music such as heavy metal and punk rock. Moshing usually happen ...

, most famously as

The Headbangers The Headbangers are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh (Charles Warrington) and Thrasher (Glenn Ruth). As the name of the team implies, their gimmick is that they are a pair of metalheads, complete with heavy metal related T-sh ...

, a pair of metal-heads known for their outrageous costumes such as nose rings and kilts. Thrasher is best known for his stints 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 ...

between 1990 and 2000, where he held the

WWF World Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

and

WWF Hardcore Championship The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules (no disqualifications, no countouts, and pinfalls count anywhere). In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was imp ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1990–1996)

Ruth grew up in

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

. He trained as a wrestler under Larry Sharpe and debuted in 1990 as The Spider. He later became Sharpe's assistant and helped train wrestlers including

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...

and his future tag team partner

at Sharpe's "Monster Factory"

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 ...

. Worked in New Jersey, for 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 ...

. In 1991, Ruth wrestled as Frankie Favorite for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

. In Japan he would occasionally teamed up with Johnny Favorite. In 1991 as the Spider, he won the WWA Heavyweight Championship twice in New Jersey from 1991 to 1992 and 1992 to 1993. Also worked in Maryland. On January 23, 1993 the Spider wrestled The Sandman in a Double DQ for

Eastern 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 ...

. In 1994, he started teaming up with Chaz Warrington as the Spiders working in 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 ...

in New Jersey and Texas. They made a few appearances 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 ...

in June 1994. In 1995 they moved down to Tennessee for

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 ...

(SMW). It was there that they changed their gimmicks to the Headbangers. Their slogan was "Real men wear skirts." Ruth became Thrasher and Warrington became Mosh. In December 1995 Smokey Mountain folded and they joined 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).

World Wrestling Federation (1990, 1991–1993, 1995, 1996–2000)

Ruth debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in August 1990 under his real name losing to

Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling ...

. He wrestled several matches for the promotion until leaving in November 1990, making several appearances on ''

WWF Superstars is a wrestling video game manufactured by Technōs Japan and released for arcades in 1989. It is the first WWF arcade game to be released. A series of unrelated games with the same title were released by LJN for the original Game Boy. Techn� ...

'' and ''

WWF Wrestling Challenge ''WWF Wrestling Challenge'' is a professional wrestling television show that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE). It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1995. The show became simply known as ''WWF Cha ...

''. Ruth made a number of appearances for the

from 1991 to 1993. Losing to the big names;

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

Undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

and

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...

. He appeared on the second ever episode of Raw in 1993 a losing effort against

Marty Jannetty Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wres ...

, competing under his given name 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 ...

. Sometimes he even made tag teams appearances against

The Smoking Gunns The Smoking Gunns were a professional wrestling tag team of kayfabe brothers Billy Gunn (Monty Sopp) and Bart Gunn (Mike Polchlopek). They portrayed cowboys in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1996. As a team, the Smoking Gunns ...

and

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 ma ...

. In December 1995, they debuted as jobbers in the WWF as the Spiders, the Royal Spiders, the Arachnoids, and even used their real names. On an episode of Monday Night Raw they got a World Tag Team Title shot against the Smoking Gunns. They returned to the USWA. Wrestling as "The Spiders", Thrasher and Mosh returned to the WWF on the September 24, 1996 episode of ''WWF Superstars'', losing to

. In November 1996, they resumed wrestling as "The Headbangers". At the outset of 1997, The Headbangers briefly began wearing

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

outfits and wrestling as "The Flying Nuns" and "The Sisters of Love", with Thrasher wrestling as "Sister Angelica" and Mosh as "Mother Smucker". They were briefly managed by Brother Love. The Headbangers captured the vacant WWF World Tag Team Championships on September 7, 1997 by defeating three other teams in a four team tag match at

Ground Zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the ground ...

. They lost the titles to

The Godwinns The Godwinns were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Dennis Knight (Phineas I. Godwinn) and Mark Canterbury (Henry O. Godwinn) that they used in the World Wrestling Entertainment, WWF. The team has used other gimmicks before they joined ...

on October 5 of that same year. The Headbangers split in January 1999 when Ruth suffered a knee injury and Warrington began pursuing a singles career, but reformed in late 1999 on the October 10 edition of Sunday Night Heat when Ruth came to Warrington's aid during a

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

angle, which saw him vilified by other wrestlers and officials alike for a number of weeks. Ruth had presented video footage of Warrington's (kayfabe) girlfriend

Marianna Komlos Marianna Komlos (September 3, 1969 – September 26, 2004) was a Canadian bodybuilding, bodybuilder, Model (person)#Fitness models, fitness model and professional wrestling manager (professional wrestling), manager. She is perhaps best known for h ...

putting on makeup to make it seem as if Warrington had been abusing her. The police officers arresting Warrington then uncuffed him and arrested Komlos for her lies. Shortly thereafter the two began appearing regularly as a team again, but were now heels and inexplicably came to the ring wearing cone

brassiere A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appear ...

s which they wore while they wrestled. In 2000, Ruth took part in the match for the Hardcore Championship at

WrestleMania 2000 WrestleMania 2000 (sequentially known as WrestleMania 16) was the 16th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took p ...

. He held the title for 37 seconds, pinning

Joey Abs Jason Arhndt (born October 15, 1971) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Joey Abs as part of the Mean Street Posse. He also performed usin ...

and then being pinned by

Pete Gas Peter John Gasparino (born May 29, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Pete Gas. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1999 and 2001 as a member of The Mean ...

. After the Headbangers split for the second time and Warrington went on to team with

D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1970), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and WWE. Brown is also known for h ...

, Ruth continued to wrestle in singles competition mainly on

WWF Jakked ''WWF Jakked'' and ''WWF Metal'' are professional wrestling television programs that were produced by the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE). Both programs aired syndicated weekly from August 28, 1999 until May 19, 2002 and replaced '' ...

before being sent to WWF's

Power Pro Wrestling Memphis Power Pro Wrestling (Power Pro Wrestling) was a Memphis, Tennessee based professional wrestling promotion that was founded by Randy Hales. It was affiliated with Memphis Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation. It was the fi ...

developmental territory in Memphis. He was released from the WWF in December 2000.

Independent circuit (2000–2003)

After his release from the WWF, Ruth continued to wrestle until 2003 for

Maryland Championship Wrestling MCW Pro Wrestling (formerly known as Maryland Championship Wrestling) is a regional independent wrestling promotion based in Joppa, Maryland. It has regularly run events in the Mid-Atlantic region since the late 1990s. History Maryland Champions ...

and independent promotions before retiring from professional wrestling.

Ring of Honor and return to the independent circuit (2011–present)

In 2011, The Headbangers reformed and have been wrestling on the independent circuit once again. In June 2012, Thrasher and Mosh debuted in

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

as The Guardians of Truth, a masked tag team managed by

Truth Martini Martin Krcaj (born May 8, 1975) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and trainer better known by the ring name Truth Martini. He is perhaps best known as the manager of The House of Truth stable in Ring of Honor. Career Early ...

. As of 2014, Thrasher now wrestles for independent promotio
Championship Wrestling Entertainment
in Port St. Lucie, FL. On November 14, 2014, Thrasher defeated Chico Adams to become the CWE Heavyweight Champion.

Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2016)

Thrasher and Mosh made an unannounced return to the WWE (formerly WWF) on the 30 August 2016 episode of ''

WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

'', losing to

Heath Slater Heath Wallace Miller (born July 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he performs mononymously as Heath, and is also active on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time in ...

and

Rhyno Terrance Guido Gerin (born October 7, 1975) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Rhyno or Rhino. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is one-half of the Impact World Tag Team Champions in his secon ...

in the first round of a tournament for the newly-created

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, representing the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE ...

. They made two further appearances on ''SmackDown'' in November 2016.

Personal life

Ruth is married with four children. Upon retiring from professional wrestling in 2002, Ruth began working in restaurant management and marketing. Ruth is currently the General Manager of a Papa John's in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Championships and accomplishments

*Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling ** ARW Hardcore Championship (1 time) ** ARW Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Thrasher *Blackburn Wrestling Alliance **BWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Greg Spitz *Championship Wrestling Entertainment **CWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Coastal Championship Wrestling **CCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

*Fighting Evolution Wrestling **FEW Tag Team Championship (2 times, current) – with Mosh *Figure Wrestling Federation **FWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mosh *

Heartland Wrestling Association The Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) was a Midwestern independent professional wrestling promotion based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A former developmental territory for World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation during the 199 ...

HWA Tag Team Championship The HWA Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles contested for in the Heartland Wrestling Association. It was established in 1996 when the Head Bangers (Mosh and Thrasher) became the first champions. Title history Key See also *Heartla ...

( 1 time) – with Mosh ** HLW Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Mosh *Insane Championship Wrestling **ICW Streetfight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mosh *

Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance The Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance (IPWA, sometimes shortened to the Independent Pro Wrestling Alliance) was an American independent professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, ...

IPWA Tag Team Championship The IPWA Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship in the Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance (IPWA). The inaugural champions were Death & Destruction (Frank Parker and Roger Anderson), who defeated the Ame ...

( 1 time) – with Mosh *

Main Event Championship Wrestling Main Event Championship Wrestling (MECW) is a privately owned professional wrestling promotion founded by Jason Daniel. The company is active in the integrated-media industry, broadcasting its events on television and the Internet. MECW also gains ...

**MECW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mosh *

MCW Tag Team Championship The MCW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the MCW Pro Wrestling promotion. The title was created and debuted on August 18, 1998, at a MCW live event. The inaugural champions were The Headbangers (Mo ...

( 1 time) – with Mosh *

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation The Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation was a Mid-Atlantic independent professional wrestling promotion based in Essex, Maryland. Founded by promoter Dennis Wippercht and wrestler Tim "Lucifer" Burke in 1991, the MEWF was one of the leading independ ...

MEWF Tag Team Championship This is a chronological list of MEWF tag team champions. The MEWF Tag Team Championship is the oldest championship title in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation having been established when the Lords of Darkness (Pain and Agony) defeated Cream T ...

( 1 time) – with Mosh *

Memphis Championship Wrestling Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) was a professional wrestling promotion run by Terry Golden, based in Memphis, Tennessee. The promotion's first event was on February 20, 2000, and it remained active until mid-2001. It was employed as a World ...

MCW Southern Tag Team Championship The MCW Southern Tag Team Championship was the tag team title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic quali ...

( 1 time) – with

Seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...

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 Mosh *National Wrestling League **

NWL Tag Team Championship The NWL Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship in the National Wrestling League promotion. The Brothers Superior (Neil Superior and Doug Superior) defeated The Cream Team (Dino Casanova and Rip Sawyer) in Mooref ...

( 1 time) – with Mosh *New England Wrestling Federation **NEWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Mosh *''

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 # 110 of the Top 500 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 1997. *Texas Wrestling Alliance **TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mosh *World Wrestling Association (New Jersey) **WWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **WWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Spider #2 *

( 1 time) **

( 1 time) – with Mosh *Wrestling For Charity **WFC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Moshhttps://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=171750

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thrasher 1969 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from New Jersey Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions