Ricky Landell

Last updated
Ricky Landell
Born (1982-04-25) April 25, 1982 (age 41) [1] [2]
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. [1] [2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Ricky Landell [1] [2]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm) [2]
Billed weight212 lb (96 kg) [2]
Billed fromSt. Paul, Minnesota
Trained by Steve Corino [1] [2]
Tatsuhito Takaiwa [1]
DebutNovember 1, 2003 [1] [2]
Retired2009 [1]

Ricky Landell (born April 25, 1982) is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for competing in various independent promotions, the most notable being Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX / Pro Wrestling Zero1 and AWA Superstars of Wrestling / Wrestling Superstars Live.

Contents

Professional wrestling career

Debut (2003–2004)

After training under Steve Corino, Ricky Landell made his professional wrestling debut on November 1, 2003 where he wrestled fellow debuting wrestler Alex Law to a ten-minute draw. [2] After both debuted, Landell and Law began teaming with each other to compete in several tag team matches for Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 beginning in 2004. [2] [3] Following a six-man tag team where he, Law and their partner Greg Spitz lost to the Extreme Horsemen (C.W. Anderson, Justin Credible and Simon Diamond) on April 10, Landell was inducted into the Horsemen as its newest member. [3]

In mid-2004, Landell, less than a year into his career, made an excursion to Japan to receive further training and briefly trained under Tatsuhito Takaiwa while touring with Shinya Hashimoto's Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. Landell made his debut for the promotion on July 9, where he competed in his first championship match at the legendary Korakuen hall in Tokyo, Japan. He lost to Tommy Wilson in a cage match to determine who would win the vacant BS American Championship. [3] The following day, Landell teamed with Wilson to defeat Fuyuki Takahashi and Shinsuke Z Yamagasa in a tag team cage match. [3]

Independent circuit and championship success (2005–2008)

Beginning in 2005, Landell made his Ring of Honor debut on January 15 at their event It All Begins, where he and four other men lost to Roderick Strong in a four-on-one handicap match. [3] He returned to the promotion on February 19 at their event Do Or Die IV, where he teamed with his old partner Alex Law to defeat Anthony Franco and Davey Andrews. [3] On March 12, Landell made his third and final ROH appearance as he and Law lost to The Ring Crew Express at the event Back To Basics. [3]

On January 29, 2006, Landell defeated Masato Tanaka to win Pro Wrestling WORLD-1's Heavyweight Championship, giving him the first championship of his career. [4] Upon becoming champion, Landell became the face of promotion and would go on to defend the title in WORLD-1 in various Independent Promotions around the country, including a notable victory over his trainer and mentor Steve Corino on April 9 in Pottstown, PA. Landell would ultimately become the longest reigning champion in the promotion's history, as he held the title for 1279 days with his reign only ending due to his retirement from wrestling in early 2009.

Landell would continue his championship success as he teamed with Corino to win the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Tag Team Championship on June 14, 2006 after defeating Team MackTion (Kirby Mack and T.J. Mack). [5] [6] [7] Despite holding two titles simultaneously, Landell won a battle royale on July 22 to become the number one contender for the AWA Superstars of Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. [5] Later on that day, he wrestled then-champion Ric Converse for the title in a losing effort. [5] Landell and Corino would later lose the World Tag Team Titles to Converse and Xsiris on March 23, 2007. [7]

Landell soon began competing more frequently for AWA Superstars of Wrestling, becoming a travelling brand talent for the promotion, competing nationally for various AWA territorial promotions as well as the home company. He became the promotion's first United States Champion on June 13, 2007 after defeating Zach Gowen in Rochester, MN. [8] The win also simultaneously made him Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX's new United States Heavyweight Champion due to the AWA and ZERO1-MAX splitting from each other. [8] His reign with the AWA's version of the title ended on March 29, 2008 after the title was deactivated and Landell became the first Fighting World Champion of the now-renamed Wrestling Superstars Live following a victory over Keith Walker. [9] On August 13, Landell lost the Fighting World Title to Walker in a rematch. [9]

Aside from WORLD-1 and WSL, Landell returned to the now-renamed Pro Wrestling Zero1 in early May 2008 and defeated Sterling James Keenan on June 1 to win the promotion's United States Heavyweight Title for the second time. [5] He would go on to hold the title for over two months before losing it to King Kaluha on August 22. [5]

After several attempts, Landell finally won the WSL World Heavyweight Championship on October 11 in Indianapolis, IN in front of 3000 fans at the famed Indianapolis Speedrome after defeating "The Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko, whom he had previously lost to in a title match back on May 3 when the championship was under the AWA Superstars banner. [5] [10]

Retirement

On February 21, 2009, Landell lost the World Heavyweight Title to Keith Walker in a screw job like finish where afterwards WSL Owner Dale Gagne publicly fired Landell. [5] Soon afterwards, Landell's official Myspace profile page and website were taken down and it was later announced that he had retired from wrestling. [1] His retirement resulted in the Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Heavyweight Championship being vacated and ending his reign at 1,279 days, the longest reign of any kind in the promotion's history. [4]

On June 12, 2011, Landell made what was to be a one-night only return as he wrestled against and lost to Corino at Pro Wrestling WORLD-1's event The Last Stampede. [5] Landell ended up making 2 more appearances for the promotion in 2011 and 2012.

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Cagematch profile".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "OWOW profile". 31 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Cagematch match listings, page 2".
  4. 1 2 3 "Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Heavyweight Championship history". titlehistories.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Match listing".
  6. ↑ "The Old School Blondes' Cagematch profile".
  7. 1 2 3 "AWA Superstars / WSL World Tag Team Championship history".
  8. 1 2 3 "AWA Superstars United States Championship history".
  9. 1 2 3 "WSL Fighting World Championship history".
  10. 1 2 "AWA Superstars / WSL World Heavyweight Championship history".
  11. ↑ "2008 Cauliflower Alley Clubhonorees".
  12. ↑ "PWF Tag Team Championship history".
  13. ↑ "PWF Universal Heavyweight Championship history".
  14. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2009". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  15. ↑ "ZERO1 United States Heavyweight Championship history". Archived from the original on 2012-02-11.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusty Rhodes</span> American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer (1945–2015)

Virgil Riley Runnels Jr., better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation, later known as the WWE. Rhodes is considered as one of the greatest wrestlers and talkers in the history of professional wrestling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Credible</span> American professional wrestler

Peter Joseph "PJ" Polaco is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with the WWF under the ring name Aldo Montoya. Polaco is a one-time world champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once.

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

Lawrence Whistler, better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his work as a wrestler and color commentator for World Championship Wrestling. Among other accolades, he is a two-time world champion having twice held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Zbyszko was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 28, 2015 by Sammartino.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shinjiro Otani</span> Japanese professional wrestler

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury sustained in April 2022. A product of the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) dojo, Otani is best known for his longtime association with Zero1, a promotion he founded in 2001 along with Shinya Hashimoto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Corino</span> Canadian professional wrestler

Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1998 to 2001 and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2006 and 2009–2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Hansen</span> American professional wrestler

John Stanley Hansen II is an American retired professional wrestler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. W. Anderson</span> American professional wrestler

Christopher Wright is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, C. W. Anderson. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1999 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Victory</span> American professional wrestler and manager

Kenneth Rinehurst is an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Jack Victory. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with the Universal Wrestling Federation and the World Class Wrestling Association in the mid-1980s, with World Championship Wrestling between 1988 and 1991 and with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998 and 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AWA World Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, are now owned by WWE. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute worked finishes rather than contend in direct competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George South</span> American professional wrestler (born 1962)

George South is an American professional wrestler. In the course of his career, South has wrestled for professional wrestling promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Idol</span> American professional wrestler

Michael McCord is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Austin Idol. He is best known for his appearances in the Mid-South with the Continental Wrestling Association, in particular his recurring feud with Jerry Lawler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirby Mack</span>

Kirby Mack is a retired American professional wrestler, known for his appearances on the independent circuit. He also wrestled for mainstream promotions such as World Wrestling Entertainment, Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Gregory James Bownds better known by his ring name TNT, is an Australian professional wrestler and promoter, currently owning and promoting the Australasian Wrestling Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ikuto Hidaka</span> Japanese professional wrestler

Ikuto Hidaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Hidaka was the regular partner of Minoru Fujita, with whom he has held the Zero1-Max International Lightweight Tag Team and Intercontinental Tag Team Titles, making them the only team to do so. He has also worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

The AWA Superstars United States Championship was a secondary championship in the AWA Superstars of Wrestling promotion, later known as Wrestling Superstars Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Walker (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler (born 1978)

Keith Walker is an American professional wrestler who competes in North American and international promotions including Ring of Honor, Harley Race's World League Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vordell Walker</span> American professional wrestler (born 1982)

Edward Walker is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling under the ring name Vordell Walker. He is perhaps best known for his work in Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Extreme (PWX).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ric Converse</span> American professional wrestler

Richard "Ric" Converse is an American professional wrestler. He is one of the top "heels" on the Southeastern independent circuit, especially in the Carolinas, and currently competes for CWF Mid-Atlantic where he is a record 6-time CWF Mid-Atlantic Champion. He has wrestled for a considerable number of other independent wrestling promotions, most notably, Count Grog's Southern Championship Wrestling, NWA Carolinas, and Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX. He was also a star in the short-lived AWA Superstars promotion holding both the promotion's world heavyweight title and tag team title during 2006 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colby Corino</span> American professional wrestler

Colby Steven Corino is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. Corino is best known for his time with Ring of Honor (ROH) and has wrestled for NWA as well as various independent promotions including PWF, PWX, CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, DPW, and Catalyst Wrestling where he is the current Heavyweight champion. He is the son of former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Steve Corino.

Michael Alegado, better known by his ring name King Kaluha, is an American professional wrestler and trainer. He is best known for his time in D. C. Drake's Continental Wrestling Alliance, the International Championship Wrestling and National Wrestling Federation during the 1980s. He also made brief appearances in the American Wrestling Association and Jim Crockett Promotions.

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.