Johnny Hotbody

Last updated
Johnny Hotbody
Birth nameJohn Weiss
Born (1963-06-12) June 12, 1963 (age 60)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Johnny Hotbody [1]
John Weiss
Sir Jonathan Hotbody
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm) [2]
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg) [2]
Trained by Larry Sharpe
Debut1988 [2]
Retired2001

John Weiss (born February 19, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Johnny Hotbody. He is best known for his appearances in Eastern Championship Wrestling, he won the ECW Championship, ECW Tag Team Championship, and ECW Television Championship. [1]

Contents

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1988–1992)

Johnny Hotbody broke into professional wrestling in the late 1980s after completing his training at The Monster Factory, operated by Larry Sharpe. He made a name for himself in several Pennsylvania and New Jersey- based independent promotions before signing with Philadelphia's Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA) in 1990. Hotbody had a long-running feud with Tony Stetson. The TWA closed its doors suddenly in 1991, but was soon replaced by Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling), run by Tod Gordon.

Eastern Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)

On April 26, 1992, Hotbody won the ECW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jimmy Snuka. [1] He held the title for nearly three months, before losing it back to Snuka on July 14. [1] Later that year, on August 12, he became the first ever ECW Television Champion by defeating Larry Winters. [1] [3] He was later forced to relinquish the title on September 12, 1992, after sustaining a legitimate broken ankle. [4]

Upon his return, he formed the Suicide Blondes with Chris Candido, and, for most of 1993, he competed in tag team competition. He won his first ECW Tag Team Championship with Candido on April 3, 1993, when they defeated Tony Stetson and Larry Winters. [1] [5] [6] Chris Michaels was later introduced as the third member of the Suicide Blondes, which resulted in the Suicide Blondes defending the Tag Team Championships under the Freebird Rule, which meant that any combination of the three were allowed to defend the championship. [7] He also began a feud with Tommy Cairo, attacking him after matches. [8] [9] The Suicide Blondes defeated Cairo and J.T. Smith in a tag team match, and for the next few weeks Hotbody competed against Cairo in matches, losing a standard singles match to him, but winning a Lumberjack match. [10] [11] [12] They lost the Tag Team Championship to the Super Destroyers (A. J. Petrucci and Doug Stahl) on May 15, but the combination of Hotbody and Michaels regained it that same day. [1] [5] [13] Later that year, on October 1, Hotbody, along with his former adversary Stetson, was awarded the Tag Team Championship, after the previous champions, The Dark Patriot and Eddie Gilbert, left the promotion, resulting in the titles being vacated. [1] [5] They had successful title defenses against Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), The Sandman and J.T. Smith, and Ian and Axl Rotten over the next month. [14] [15] [16] They dropped the championship to Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn, however, in a nine-second match, on November 13. [5] [17]

Late career (1993–2001)

Hotbody later competed for the NWA New Jersey, where he was awarded the New Jersey version of the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship on September 25, 1998. [1] He lost it to Rik Ratchett that same day. After successful tours in several Philadelphia-area independent promotions, Hotbody retired from active competition in 2001.

Championships and accomplishments

1Johnny Hotbody's reign occurred while the promotion was an NWA affiliate named Eastern Championship Wrestling, and was prior to the promotion becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling and the title being declared a world title by ECW.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Snuka</span> Fijian American professional wrestler (1943–2017)

James Reiher Snuka was a Fijian and American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Muraco</span> American professional wrestler

Don Muraco is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on two occasions and was crowned the inaugural winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 1985. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Candido</span> American professional wrestler (1972–2005)

Christopher Barrett Candito was an American professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he performed under the ring name Chris Candido, as well as for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Skip, one-half of the tag team The Bodydonnas. For much of his career, he performed alongside his real-life partner, Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, who acted as his valet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Durante</span> American professional wrestler

Anthony Durante was an American professional wrestler best known under the ring name "Pitbull #2" as one half of the tag team The Pitbulls, with "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe. The team is best known for their time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where the team was the promotion's World Tag Team Championship once. Apart from tag team competition, Durante also achieved success briefly as a singles competitor, challenging for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on a few occasions while holding the ECW World Television Championship once.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Wolfe (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler

Gary Wolfe is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the ring name Pitbull #1 as one half of the tag team called The Pitbulls, with Anthony Durante as Pitbull #2. He was a one-time Television Champion and a one-time World Tag Team Champion in ECW. He is also a former two-time 3PW World Heavyweight Champion.

John T. Smith is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, J. T. Smith. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1990s.

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 Wrestling but has also competed in the Global Wrestling Federation and Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvatore Sincere</span> American professional wrestler

Thomas Brandi is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation from 1996 to 1998 under the ring name Salvatore Sincere. Brandi is also known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling as Johnny Gunn.

Anthony Matteo is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s.

William Pierce is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Chris Michaels. He is best known for his appearances with the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based professional wrestling promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992 to 1993. He is to not be confused with Nebraska and Iowa wrestler, Chris Michaels who worked for the USWA with tag team partner Todd Morton.

Glen Osbourne is an American retired professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Eastern Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s, where he was the second ever, and the overall second youngest holder of the ECW Television Championship.

The Super Destroyers is a professional wrestling Tag team consisting of Doug Stahl and A. J. Petrucci. They both currently perform on Independent circuit and they are best known for their stint in NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling where they were the first and longest reigning tag team champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular</span> 1993 Eastern Championship Wrestling live event

The Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular was a professional wrestling live event produced by NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on June 19, 1993. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NWA Bloodfest</span> Wrestling event

NWA Bloodfest was a professional wrestling live event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on October 1 and October 2, 1993. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Winters</span> American professional wrestler and trainer

Larry Winters was an American professional wrestler and trainer who competed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and East Coast independent circuit during the 1980s and 90s. He has wrestled in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, National Wrestling Federation, Pro Wrestling USA and the World Wrestling Council. It was reported on several wrestling websites that Winters died due to a heart attack January 27, 2015.

Chad Slivenski is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, known by his ringname Chad Bowman, who competed in East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions during the 1990s and 2000s. Early in his career, Slivenski spent time in regional promotions such as the United States Wrestling Association and Smoky Mountain Wrestling before their close in the mid-1990s, and made occasional appearances as a preliminary wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November to Remember (1993)</span> 1993 Eastern Championship Wrestling supercard event

November to Remember (1993), the inaugural November to Remember professional wrestling event produced by Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW), took place on November 13, 1993 in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ECW Extreme Warfare</span> 1995 Extreme Championship Wrestling supercard event

Extreme Warfare was a professional wrestling live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on March 18, 1995. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Terror at Tabor was a professional wrestling live event produced by Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on November 12, 1993, the day prior to November to Remember. The event was held in the Tabor Community Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Excerpts from Terror at Tabor aired on episodes #33 and #34 of ECW Hardcore TV on November 23 and 30, 1993.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Johnny Hotbody profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Johnny Hotbody". BodySlamming.com. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  3. 1 2 "History of the ECW TV Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment . Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  4. ↑ Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary. "ECW Television Title / ECW World Television Title History". Wrestling Title Histories. Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of the ECW Tag Team Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment . Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  6. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - May 25, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-05-25. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  7. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - June 8, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA at ECW Arena". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-06-08. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  8. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - April 6, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-04-06. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  9. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - April 14, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-04-14. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  10. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - April 28, 1993--ECW Television in Philadelphia,PA". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-04-28. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  11. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - May 4, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-05-04. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  12. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - May 11, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-05-11. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  13. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - July 20, 1993 -- ECW Television in Philadelphia, PA at ECW Arena". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-07-20. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  14. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - October 2, 1993 -- NWA Bloodfest: Part 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at ECW Arena". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-10-02. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  15. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - October 1, 1993 -- NWA Bloodfest: Part 1 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at ECW Arena". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-10-01. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  16. ↑ "Eastern Championship Wrestling Results - November 13, 1993 -- November to Remember in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at ECW Arena". Online World of Wrestling. 1993-11-13. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  17. ↑ Milner, John M.; Kapur, Bob. "Tommy Dreamer". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2009-04-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.