Orlando Jordan

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Orlando Jordan
Orlando Jordan.JPG
Jordan in 2005
Birth nameOrlando Mason Jordan
Born (1974-04-21) April 21, 1974 (age 51) [1]
Salem, New Jersey, U.S. [2]
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name Orlando Jordan [3]
Billed height6 ft 4 in (193 cm) [3]
Billed weight257 lb (117 kg) [4]
Billed from Miami, Florida [3]
Trained by Rocky Johnson [3]
Debut1999 [5]

Orlando Mason Jordan (born April 21, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE on its SmackDown brand, where he was a one-time United States Champion and for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Contents

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1999–2002)

After training with Rocky Johnson, Jordan made his professional wrestling debut in 1999. [5] In 2000, he worked for Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW), where he teamed with his brother Marcus. On February 9, 2002, Jordan defeated the Bruiser to win the MCW Heavyweight Championship, holding it for a week until he was dethroned by the Bruiser. [6]

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2001–2006)

Early years (2001–2004)

Jordan wrestled his first match in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on December 21, 2001, where he defeated Billy Fives in a dark match on WWF Jakked . [7] He continued to wrestle for the WWF (which changed its name to WWE in May 2002) in house shows and dark matches. After working for WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), Jordan made his WWE television debut on the May 31, 2003 episode of Velocity , defeating Jamie Noble. [3] [8]

On June 26, Jordan made his SmackDown! debut as a face, where he answered John Cena's open challenge, but lost the match. Jordan was then attacked by Cena before being saved by The Undertaker. [9] At Vengeance on July 27, he participated in the APA's Invitational Bar Room Brawl. [10] On the October 2 episode of SmackDown!, Jordan defeated Big Show via countout when Big Show had to run to the restroom after eating a burrito laced with laxatives. [11] Jordan next answered WWE Champion Brock Lesnar's non-title open challenge on the January 29, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, but was quickly defeated. [12]

The Cabinet and United States Champion (2004–2005)

Jordan as "Chief of Staff" of John "Bradshaw" Layfield's (right) Cabinet in January 2005 Thecabinet.jpg
Jordan as "Chief of Staff" of John "Bradshaw" Layfield's (right) Cabinet in January 2005

After months of absence due to family issues, Jordan returned on the August 5 episode of SmackDown!, defeating René Duprée. Later that night, Jordan saved WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) from an attack by The Undertaker, turning heel. [13] The following week on SmackDown!, Jordan joined JBL's Cabinet and was appointed "Chief of Staff". He faced The Undertaker in the main event later that night, losing by disqualification after JBL attacked The Undertaker. [14] On the August 26 episode of SmackDown!, Jordan once again faced The Undertaker, this time with JBL's WWE Championship on the line, which ended in a disqualification after JBL again interfered. [15] On the November 25 episode of SmackDown!, Jordan and JBL defeated Eddie Guerrero and Booker T in a tag team match after interference from the Basham Brothers, who eventually became the Cabinet's "co-secretaries of defense". [16] [17]

Jordan entered the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble on January 30, 2005, but was eliminated by Booker T. [18] On the March 3 episode of SmackDown!, Jordan defeated John Cena with the help of JBL to win the United States Championship, his first and only title in WWE. [19] He successfully defended the title against Heidenreich on May 22 at Judgment Day. [20] At The Great American Bash on July 24, Jordan defeated Chris Benoit to retain the title, but lost it to Benoit in 25 seconds at SummerSlam on August 21. [21] [22] Jordan failed to regain the United States Championship from Benoit in three consecutive matches lasting less than a minute on SmackDown!, as well as in a fatal four-way match also involving Booker T and Christian at No Mercy on October 9. [23] [24] [25] [26] Around this time, he broke away from the Cabinet, ending his alliance with JBL. [4]

Various feuds and departure (2005–2006)

Jordan facing Tatanka in April 2006 Orlando jordan vs tatanka2.jpg
Jordan facing Tatanka in April 2006

When Booker T got injured halfway through his Best of Seven series for the United States Championship, being 3–1 in his favor, he needed a replacement to face Benoit and win so he could become champion. Jordan approached him about the position, but Booker T and his wife Sharmell chastised him for his quick submission losses to Benoit. Booker T asked Randy Orton to substitute for him, but he lost, leading Jordan to once again ask for the position the next week, which Booker T again declined. During the sixth match in the series, Jordan grabbed Booker T's crutch and hit Benoit, giving him a disqualification victory and tying the series at 3–3. [27] [28] The next week, Jordan unsuccessfully prevented Orton from defeating Benoit to win the series for Booker T. [29] On the January 20 episode of SmackDown!, Jordan lost to Orton after Sharmell distracted referee Nick Patrick. After the match, Jordan was attacked by Booker T and Orton before Benoit saved him, turning face for the first time since 2004. [30]

Jordan was then pushed down to Velocity and won several matches there. Jordan made his final SmackDown! appearance on the May 12 in a backstage segment, telling Nunzio that he had seen someone who looked like his partner Vito dressed in drag at a night club during the recent UK tour. [31] On May 26, 2006, Jordan was released from WWE. [32]

Independent circuit and International promotions (2006–2010)

Jordan during the Hulkamania tour of Australia in November 2009 Orlando Jordan.jpg
Jordan during the Hulkamania tour of Australia in November 2009

Jordan began competing on the independent circuit soon after his WWE departure and wrestled overseas. He competed for the Italy-based promotion Nu-Wrestling Evolution (NWE), capturing the NWE World Heavyweight Championship in April 2008. [2] [33] On June 25, Jordan lost the title in Barcelona to the Ultimate Warrior in Warrior's return to wrestling after a ten-year absence; he was also Warrior's very last opponent. [34] In November 2009, Jordan took part in the Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin tour in Australia. [35]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–2011)

Jordan in July 2010 Orlando Jordan July 2010.jpg
Jordan in July 2010

On the January 4, 2010, live, three-hour Monday night edition of Impact! , Jordan made his Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut in a backstage segment with D'Angelo Dinero. [36] As a heel, he defeated Dinero on the January 21 episode of Impact! and scored an upset victory over Samoa Joe on February 18. [37] [38] On the March 29 edition of Impact!, Jordan debuted a new look and started the bisexual angle he had proposed to WWE creative before his release from the company. [39] On April 9, he signed a new multi-year contract with TNA. [40] On the May 3 edition of Impact!, Jordan debuted his new interview segment, O-Zone, during which he attacked and started a feud with Global Champion Rob Terry, unsuccessfully challenging him for the title at Sacrifice on May 16. [41] [42] The following week on Impact!, Jordan defeated Terry in a non-title match after capitalizing on Terry's injured knee, which he had injured at Sacrifice. [43] On the June 3 edition of Impact!, Jordan and Desmond Wolfe lost to Terry and Abyss, with Terry pinning Jordan to end their feud. [44]

On the July 29 edition of Impact!, the heel Jordan formed a dysfunctional tag team with face Eric Young, who had been battling (kayfabe) mental problems ever since taking a bump on the head, being completely unaware of Jordan's sexual orientation and interest in him. [45] [46] Jordan and Young lost to Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore) on October 10 at Bound for Glory. [47] Upon the team's appearance on Impact! on December 16, Jordan had turned face as he and Young defeated Generation Me (Jeremy and Max Buck). [48] On April 17, 2011, at Lockdown, Jordan and Young failed to become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a four tag team steel cage match. [49] On June 28, Jordan faced Magnus in the first round of the Xplosion Championship Challenge, but lost. [50] On July 11, Jordan was released from TNA. [51]

Return to the independent circuit (2011–present)

On November 5, 2011, at an NWA event, Jordan lost to Steve Anthony in a lumberjack match. [50] At Outback Championship Wrestling's Battle for Ballarat event on May 31, 2013, Jordan defeated Andy Phoenix in what would be his final match before retiring from professional wrestling. On June 3, 2016, at Menai Mania II, Jordan won the AWE Heavyweight Championship from Luke Knight, having qualified for a title opportunity through the Innerwest rumble. He would, however, drop the title to Knight weeks later. [50]

On September 16, 2023, Jordan returned to wrestling with All-Star Wrestling Australia and became the All-Star Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, holding the title for 210 days until April 2024. [33]

Personal life

Jordan was misdiagnosed with autism as a child. [5] He also had speech difficulties, and attended classes to help him overcome them. [2] He competed in gymnastics as a child, and participated in amateur wrestling. [2] He attended Boise State University after winning the 1993 state championship at 189 pounds for Hermitage High School in Richmond, Virginia. [2] Before becoming a professional wrestler, he was a firefighter with the United States Forest Service. [5] He then relocated to Florida, where he became a reputable amateur boxer. [5]

Since June 2011, Jordan is the co-owner (along with independent wrestler Luke Hawx) of WildKat Sports & Entertainment, a professional wrestling training center located outside New Orleans. Their school has since spawned a Louisiana-exclusive wrestling federation, WILDKAT Pro, which was briefly a member territory of the National Wrestling Alliance. On August 20, 2012, Jordan opened another wrestling school in Melbourne, Australia, where he currently resides and works as a stunt performer. [52] [53]

Jordan is bisexual, making him the first openly bisexual male wrestler in WWE and TNA. [5] On October 10, 2013, he married a woman in Australia. [54] The following year, his daughter Dakota was born. [55]

Other media

Jordan appeared as a playable character in the video games WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006 and WWE Day of Reckoning 2 . [56] [57]

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

Professional wrestling

References

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