Chuck Palumbo | |
---|---|
Birth name | Charles Ronald Palumbo |
Born | [1] West Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S. | June 15, 1971
Alma mater | University of Central Missouri |
Children | 1 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Chuck Chuck Palumbo The Dude |
Billed height | 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) [2] |
Billed weight | 280 lb (127 kg) [2] |
Billed from | Providence, Rhode Island San Diego, California |
Trained by | Paul Orndorff WCW Power Plant |
Debut | 1998 |
Retired | 2012 |
Charles Ronald Palumbo (born June 15, 1971) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWE) in the late-1990s and 2000s, where he held the WCW World Tag Team Championship and WWF/E World Tag Team Championship. He hosted the Discovery Channel series Lords of the Car Hoards and "Rusted Development".
Chuck Palumbo grew up in West Warwick, Rhode Island. He attended West Warwick High School, where he earned all-state honors in basketball. [3] He joined the US Navy soon after and spent time in the Persian Gulf, working the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson. He was initially assigned to an F-18 Hornet squadron VAQ-34 at Lemoore, California before transferring to NAS Miramar in San Diego where he worked on the E-2C Hawkeye. [4] Chuck finished up his stint in the Navy and enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island earning All-American honors in basketball [5] and a full scholarship to University of Central Missouri. While attending Central Missouri, watching a WCW TV show, he saw a commercial for the WCW PowerPlant. He called the number, and after graduating with a Criminal Justice degree, decided to accept their invitation to travel to Atlanta and train at the WCW Power Plant. [6]
Palumbo began his career in 1998 on the independent circuit, using a surfer gimmick and the ring name "The Dude". He made his debut appearance on World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s Nitro on October 19, 1998, as a fan who accepted the challenge of Ernest "The Cat" Miller. Six months later, he was offered a training contract by WCW in April 1999. Just prior to the hiring of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera as bookers for WCW, many of the WCW Power Plant wrestlers debuted on Saturday Night and WorldWide .
On September 3, 1999, at WCW live, Palumbo was defeated by Hardbody Harrison. [7] [8] [9] On September 5, at WCW Live, Palumbo defeated Hardbody Harrison in a rematch. [7] [8] [10] On October 26, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (October '99 #4), Chuck Palumbo defeated Mark Jindrak. [7] [11] [12] On November 9, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (November '99 #2), Palumbo defeated Sonny Siaki. [7] [13] [14] On November 30, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (November '99 #4), Palumbo defeated Devon Storm. [7] [15] On December 7, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (December '99 #2), Palumbo again defeated Mark Jindrak. [7] [16]
On January 19, 2000, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (January '00 #3), Chuck Palumbo defeated Mike Sanders. [7] [17] On February 16, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (February '00 #4), Palumbo teamed with Sonny Siaki to defeat Allan Funk and Rick Cornell. [7] [14] [18] On March 1, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (March '00 #1), Palumbo and Siaki challenged Big Vito and Johnny The Bull for the WCW World Tag Team Titles but was unsuccessful at winning the titles. [7] [14] [19] On March 5, at WCW Live, Palumbo defeated Bobby Eaton. [7] [20] On March 14, at WCW WorldWide Taping' Chuck Palumbo was defeated by Lenny Lane. [7] [21] In 2000, Palumbo made his debut on WCW television on the March 21, 2000, edition of Thunder under his real name, losing to Scott Steiner. [22] [7] After this match, Palumbo was chosen by Bischoff and Russo to be The New Blood's version of Lex Luger in May 2000. [22] He was given the nickname "The Main Event". [22]
On March 29, at WCW Saturday Night Taping (March '00 #5), Palumbo defeated Chris Harris. [7] [23]
Palumbo feuded with Luger until late May 2000 when Palumbo formed a team called "The Perfect Event" with Shawn Stasiak and the pair won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. [24] [22] Their main feud was against KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark). [22] [24] In August, Stasiak and Palumbo helped form the Natural Born Thrillers with Mike Sanders, Sean O'Haire, Mark Jindrak, and Reno while they were briefly "coached" by Kevin Nash. [22] [24]
Palumbo and Stasiak won the WCW World Tag Team Championship two more times before splitting in early January 2001 when he and Stasiak won a tag team battle royal with O'Haire and Jindrak for a future tag team title shot. After the conclusion of the match Mike Sanders declared both teams victorious and that any combination of the four would face The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash). Palumbo and O'Haire were the two members of the Natural Born Thrillers who would face and defeat Page and Nash for the tag titles at Sin on January 14, 2001. Following the title victory, the Natural Born Thrillers broke up when the team of Jindrak and Stasiak became jealous of Palumbo and O'Haire. The teams faced each other at SuperBrawl Revenge on February 18, 2001, for the tag team title, which Palumbo and O'Haire retained. [22] [24] The duo also retained the title against Totally Buffed (Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger) at Greed in March, WCW's last pay-per-view. On March 23, the World Wrestling Federation acquired the assets of WCW and Palumbo's contract was acquired. [22] The following Monday on the final episode of Nitro, Palumbo and O'Haire defeated Team Canada's Mike Awesome and Lance Storm in the final WCW World Tag Team Championship title defense on the program.
On April 14, 2000, Chuck Palumbo made his NJPW debut, at NJPW Strong Energy '00 Day 1, where he defeated Black Cat. [7] [25] On April 15, at NJPW Strong Energy '00 Day 2, Palumbo teamed with Rick Cornell and Osamu Kido but was defeated by Brian Johnston, Junji Hirata and Tadao Yasuda in a 6 man tag match. [7] [26] On April 16, at NJPW Strong Energy '00 Day 3, Palumbo teamed with Rick Cornell, Dan Devine and Takashi Lazuka but was defeated by Hiro Saito, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Super J and Tatsutoshi Goto in a 8 person tag match. [7] [27]
Palumbo and O'Haire made their WWF debuts on the June 28, 2001, episode of SmackDown! as part of The Alliance, attacking the Hardy Boyz. O'Haire and Palumbo started feuding with the Acolytes Protection Agency (A.P.A.) in the following weeks, which ended at WWF Invasion on July 22, 2001, when the Acolytes Protection Agency defeated them. [28] Subsequently, O'Haire and Palumbo defeated the Hardy Boyz on the August 2, 2001, edition of SmackDown!. O'Haire and Palumbo lost the WCW Tag Team Championship to the Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane) on the August 9, 2001, edition of SmackDown! and lost their rematch for the tag-team gold in a steel cage match the following week on Raw. O'Haire and Palumbo's last televised match together was on the August 26 edition of Heat defeating the Holly Cousins (Hardcore and Crash).
O'Haire was sent to developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling in early September 2001, and Palumbo was thrown out of The Alliance on the October 25 edition of SmackDown! by storyline co-owner of The Alliance, Stephanie McMahon. He joined the WWF in November.
When he returned, Palumbo found a tag team partner in Billy Gunn. The pair started as a tag team working dark matches, but were later given a gimmick that saw the pair grow increasingly affectionate towards each other, showing evidence of a homosexual relationship. Palumbo became known simply as Chuck, and he bleached his hair blond to match Gunn's.
On the February 21, 2002, edition of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck defeated Tazz and Spike Dudley to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. [29] Palumbo made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania X8, when Billy and Chuck defend their titles in a Four corners elimination match against the APA, The Dudley Boyz, and The Hardy Boyz. [30] [31] They lost the tag team gold to Rikishi and their stylist Rico Constantino, who was forced to team with Rikishi on May 19, 2002, at Judgment Day. [32] [33] Less than a month later Rico helped Billy and Chuck recapture the title, but they later lost it to Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. [34] [29]
In the second half of 2002, Billy and Chuck were the source of controversy when Chuck apparently proposed to Billy on September 5, 2002, edition of SmackDown! asking him to be his "partner for life". They had a marriage ceremony on the 2002 season premiere of SmackDown!. [35] Just before they tied the knot, however, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt, and both characters disavowed their on-screen homosexuality. When Billy and Chuck decided not to go through with the marriage, Rico turned on them by helping Eric Bischoff and 3-Minute Warning attack the duo. Rico subsequently jumped to Raw as the manager of 3-Minute Warning, who beat Billy and Chuck at Unforgiven. [36] Billy was injured in early October 2002, and Chuck worked on Velocity for a few months using his original ring name Chuck Palumbo once again.
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(June 2023) |
In February 2003, Palumbo formed the Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I.) in WWE, a faction which had previously been seen in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). After a beating at the hands of Rikishi, Nunzio threatened to bring in his "family" in order to gain revenge. The next week, Palumbo and Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli joined Nunzio to form the F.B.I. and attacked Rikishi.[ citation needed ] This version initially gained little success, but would go on to have brief feuds with Los Guerreros, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, Brian Kendrick, Nathan Jones, the APA, and The Undertaker.[ citation needed ]
Palumbo was traded to the Raw brand on March 22, 2004, along with A-Train in exchange for Rico and Jackie Gayda.[ citation needed ] After Palumbo was traded to the Raw brand, he was kept off television until July 2004, when he debuted with a new look and entrance music. His new image resembled a cross between an auto mechanic and a greaser.[ citation needed ] He would later give himself the nickname "Custom Chucky P."[ citation needed ] It was not long before Palumbo was a regular on Sunday Night Heat .[ citation needed ] His new gimmick started off usually losing matches but began to rise on Heat, defeating the likes of The Hurricane, Rosey, Val Venis and Stevie Richards.[ citation needed ] On the October 31, 2004, airing of Heat, Palumbo had his most high-profile match on the Raw brand when he faced former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit, but was defeated. Palumbo was released by WWE soon after on November 4, 2004.[ citation needed ]
Palumbo, along with Johnny Stamboli, went on to become a member of Voodoo Murders of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and feuded against Roughly Obsess and Destroy. Palumbo teamed with former FBI partner Stamboli to challenge for the World Tag Team Championship on March 20, 2005, but were defeated by Jamal and Taiyo Kea of RO&D.
Stamboli and Palumbo's next stop would be with the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion in Italy, where the pair reformed the FBI. The duo also made appearances in a World Wrestling Council show where they challenged Último Dragón, Místico, and Negro Casas, in a tag team match which they would win by securing both the first and third falls. In early 2006, he made appearances in Mexico for Toryumon Mexico.
In March 2006, Palumbo re-signed with the WWE and began working house shows and dark matches over the next year. Palumbo officially returned on the May 25, 2007, edition of Heat with a biker gimmick, and defeated Charlie Haas. He then continued making appearances on Heat, where he consistently defeated jobbers. In an interview with WWE.com, Palumbo claimed that the biker character was not a gimmick and that he works on bikes two or three times a week. On July 6, 2007, Palumbo made his SmackDown! re-debut, defeating Kenny Dykstra in his return match. [37]
Palumbo began an on-screen relationship with Michelle McCool, whom he teamed with to defeat Dykstra and Victoria in a mixed tag team match. [38] He then feuded with Jamie Noble, after Noble made advances towards McCool. [39] [40] After a series of matches between the men, Noble won a date with McCool by defeating Palumbo. [41] Palumbo accidentally elbowed McCool during a match, causing her to suffer a storyline concussion. [42] The partnership was dissolved when McCool refused to accept his apology the following week. Palumbo vowed to get revenge on Noble, [43] and defeated Noble the following week. [44]
Palumbo participated in the Royal Rumble match, where he eliminated Jamie Noble. He next appeared at WrestleMania XXIV, taking part in a 24-man Interpromotional Battle Royal to crown a number one contender to the ECW Championship, where he also eliminated Noble. During a series of house shows in June 2008, Palumbo challenged Matt Hardy for the United States Championship, though he was unsuccessful in winning the championship. As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Palumbo was drafted to the Raw brand. [45] He never made his return to the brand however, as he was released from his WWE contract on November 7, 2008. [46]
Palumbo returned to Mexico to team with Damián 666 and Konnan in a losing effort against D-Generation MEX at Wrestling in Tijuana on December 25, 2008. He also teamed with Konnan in World Wrestling Association. Palumbo wrestled for Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon promotion and competed in the IWL World Title Tournament in Mexico as well.
He returned to Nu-Wrestling (now named New Wrestling Entertainment, and located in France) in September 2009, and feuded with Mr. Anderson. Palumbo, Anderson and Tiny Iron competed in a triple threat for the vacant NWE Heavyweight Championship, which Anderson won. [47] Palumbo challenged Anderson to a match for the championship on October 3, 2009, but was defeated.
On November 13, 2009, Palumbo won the Herts and Essex Wrestling (HEW) Heavyweight Championship from Brett Meadows in Braintree, England. [48] He is the first American to hold the British promotion's championship. [49] However, he lost the championship back to Meadows two days later in Colchester, England following interference from Sam Knee and Britani Knight.
In an interview with Hit The Ropes Radio, Palumbo confirmed he was in talks with TNA to sign with the company, [50] though he opted not to sign. Palumbo wrestled his final match at Future Stars Wrestling's New Years Resolution event in 2012, where he defeated Jayson Cash. [51] After this, he quietly retired, and confirmed to Bill Apter in a 2014 interview that his wrestling career was over. [52]
Palumbo runs a business called CP Kustoms, where he builds his own motorcycles, as well as repairing and customizing cars and motorcycles. [53] A Palumbo-made motorcycle was featured in the April issue of American Iron Magazine . [54] In 2009, Palumbo built a motorcycle to raise money for veterans returning home. He rode the bike across the country to gather donations and raffles, with 100% of the proceeds going to Fueled by the Fallen, a nonprofit that supports troops after they return home. [55] [56]
In 2006 Palumbo learned how to play guitar, and now plays in his own band, 3 Spoke Wheel. [57] Using the same theme as CP Kustoms, he opened up Chuck Palumbo's Garage Gym, where he teaches cross-fit classes. [58]
In 2014, he began co-hosting the Discovery Channel's Lords of the Car Hoards with custom car builder Rick Dore. [59] The show focuses on SLAM garage, the garage Dore and Palumbo co-own, to fix and customize cars and motorcycles. For the second season the show was renamed Rusted Development.
Palumbo's brother, Chris, was awarded several medals for his military service in Afghanistan including the Distinguished Service Cross. [60] Palumbo is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers Batista, Mark Jindrak, Booker T, Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Rey Mysterio. He was also close to former tag partner Sean O'Haire, who died September 8, 2014.
Palumbo currently resides in San Diego, California. He has a daughter named Charli, who is an aspiring DJ. [61] [62] In January 2016, Palumbo reportedly saved a woman from a car accident by lifting the car, then lifting the woman out of the car. [63]
Alexander Wright is a German former professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He wrestled professionally in Germany and Japan before signing with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He remained a prominent mid-card performer during his seven-year tenure with WCW, including reigns as a one time Cruiserweight Champion, a one time World Television Champion and a one time World Tag Team Champion.
Peter Alan Gruner Jr. is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He currently works for WWE as a producer.
Mark Robert Jindrak is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under his own name and for his appearances with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under the ring name Marco Corleone. He is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, CMLL World Trios Champion, and WCW World Tag Team Champion.
James Gibson is an American retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Jamie Noble. He is currently signed to WWE as a producer. In addition to his appearances with WWE, Noble is known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1999 to 2001 as Jamie Howard, Jamie-San and Jamie Knoble and with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor in 2004 and 2005 under his birth name. He is a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and ROH World Champion.
Sean Christopher Haire was an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer, better known by his ring name Sean O'Haire.
The Alliance, also known as Team WCW/ECW and The Coalition, was a villainous professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation and the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) that existed during the Invasion storyline from May to November 2001.
Joseph Scott James is an American wrestling producer, former referee and retired professional wrestler better known as Scott Armstrong, who is currently signed to Diamond Championship Wrestling. He worked for WWE. James is the oldest son of Bob Armstrong and has three brothers who became wrestlers, Brad, Steve and Brian.
Greed was the final professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on March 18, 2001 from the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida. Greed replaced the promotion's March PPV event Uncensored which was held from 1995 to 2000. The pay-per-view event took place three days before the final episode of Thunder and eight days before the final episode of Monday Nitro.
Shawn Emile Stipich is an American Canadian chiropractor, motivational speaker and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotions the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s and early 2000s under the ring names Shawn Stasiak and Meat. Championships held by Stasiak over the course of his career include the WCW World Tag Team Championship and WWF Hardcore Championship. Stasiak is the son of former WWWF Champion Stan Stasiak.
Michael Edwin Neil Sanders is an American stand-up comedian and former professional wrestler. Sanders is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one time Cruiserweight Champion.
Richard Cornell is an American retired professional wrestler, and tap dancer, better known by the ring name Reno. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1999 to 2001, where he held the WCW Hardcore Championship.
Bryan Emmett Clark is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under the ring names The Nightstalker, Adam Bomb, Wrath and his real name. He is a former two-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time AJPW World Tag Team Champion with his KroniK teammate, Brian Adams.
The Natural Born Thrillers were a professional wrestling stable in World Championship Wrestling from 2000 to 2001. The name is a play on the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.
WWF Invasion was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on July 22, 2001, at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This event was initially planned to be the fourth Fully Loaded PPV, as it was advertised at the King of the Ring event, which immediately preceded Invasion, although the decision to replace Fully Loaded was made in May. Invasion was the first pay-per-view to feature the ongoing Invasion storyline, which featured wrestlers from the WWF taking on The Coalition, a combined force of wrestlers from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), later known as The Alliance. The event featured WWF wrestlers facing WCW and ECW wrestlers.
DeWayne Bruce is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker.
The Perfect Event was a tag team in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 2000–2001. The team consisted of Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo. They are former WCW World Tag Team Champions. Stasiak feuded with Curt Hennig and "stole" his "Perfect" gimmick while Palumbo feuded with Lex Luger and "stole" his "Total Package" gimmick. Although initially solo players, within a month of active duty on the WCW roster, they paired together, their team name being an amalgam of their then-nicknames 'Perfect Shawn' and 'The Main Event', respectively. The team was also part of The Alliance stable months after WCW's closure in 2001.
The 2000 Starrcade was the 18th annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on December 17, 2000, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. This was the final Starrcade event produced by WCW, as it was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 2001. Another Starrcade event would not be produced for another seventeen years, when WWE used the name for a special live event in 2017.
Millennium Final was a Germany-only professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event from World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on November 16, 2000 from the Arena Oberhausen in Oberhausen, Germany, marking the finale of WCW's "Millennium Tour". The rights to Millennium Final now belong to WWE after their purchase of WCW in 2001. Sting's European Cup defense against Kevin Nash is included as part of the Sting: The Icon Defined collection on WWE Network.
SuperBrawl Revenge was the eleventh and final SuperBrawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and the penultimate pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on February 18, 2001, from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
The 2000 Halloween Havoc was the 12th annual Halloween Havoc professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on October 29, 2000, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)