Rico Costantino | |
---|---|
Birth name | Americo Sabastiano Costantino |
Born | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | October 1, 1961
Alma mater | Northwestern Military and Naval Academy |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Rico [1] Rico Costantino [1] The Cobra [2] |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Billed weight | 230 lb (100 kg) [1] |
Billed from | Las Vegas, Nevada [1] |
Trained by | Jesse Hernandez [1] Ohio Valley Wrestling |
Debut | 1998 [2] |
Retired | 2012 |
Americo Sebastiano Costantino (born October 1, 1961) is an American police officer and retired paramedic, SWAT officer, bodyguard, professional wrestler and wrestling manager. He performed under the ring names Rico Costantino and Rico in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 1998 to 2004.
Costantino was a contestant on the American television series American Gladiators . When challenging one of the show's gladiators, Gemini, Constantino won once and fighting to a draw twice in their three Joust bouts. Costantino was the champion for the first half of the 1990–1991 season. In the Grand Championship, Rico came up just short, losing to Craig Branham by 7 points (3 1/2 seconds) in the Eliminator portion of the show. Costantino next appeared on the European game show Fort Boyard, with a win over his former Gladiator nemesis Craig Branham. On the show, he was the only competitor to capture the highest tiered “red ball” in the bungee jump challenge on an upswing.
Costantino began to train with the Empire Wrestling Federation for a career in the wrestling business. [1] Costantino was discovered by World Wrestling Federation (WWF) officials Terry Taylor and Dr. Tom Prichard. [1] After only 12 matches, Costantino signed a developmental deal with the WWF. [1] Costantino was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling for further training, before being sent up to work for WWF. [1]
He became a three time OVW Champion, a MPPW Heavyweight Champion and a HWA Heavyweight Champion.
In 2001, started working dark matches for the WWF against Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Raven, Hurricane Helms, Billy Gunn and Steven Richards.
He debuted in WWF on the March 21, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as the stylist of Billy and Chuck (the heel gimmicks of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo), establishing himself as a villain. [3] Rico portrayed a homosexual stylist as his gimmick and grew muttonchops. On the May 9 episode of SmackDown!, Rico wrestled his first match in WWE, where he teamed with Billy and Chuck to defeat Al Snow, Maven and Rikishi. [4] At Judgment Day, Rico was forced to team with Rikishi to defeat his clients, Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship. [5] [6] On the June 6 episode of SmackDown!, Rico turned on Rikishi by helping Billy and Chuck in pinning Rikishi for the tag titles. [7]
On the September 12, 2002 episode of SmackDown!, Rico moved over to the Raw brand and became the manager of 3-Minute Warning (then-heel, Rosey and Jamal). [8] He ended up turning on 3-Minute Warning after they lost a match to the Dudley Boyz. However both he and 3-Minute Warning all remained heels during that time. [9] After turning on 3-Minute Warning, Rico scored an upset victory over another heel, Ric Flair. [10]
Rico would soon return to Raw in 2003 with Miss Jackie appearing as his manager. He retained the essence of the masculinity gimmick he shared with Gunn and Palumbo while taking it to new levels, much in the vein of Adrian Street and painting his face and later grew out his hair. [11] Then, on the March 22, 2004 edition of Raw, Rico got drafted to SmackDown! and became a fan favorite due to fan reaction to his over-the-top exótico style gimmick, teaming up with an initially reluctant partner, Charlie Haas, (with whom he held the WWE Tag Team Championship) [12] and had a valet, Miss Jackie. [13] [14] Rico was unexpectedly released by WWE on November 7, 2004. [1]
After his release, he went to All-Japan Pro Wrestling, where he and former WWE colleague Bull Buchanan defeated Mitsuya Nagai and Masayuki Naruse on the first event of the "Excite Series" in Tokyo, Japan to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship. [15] Costantino retired from professional wrestling in July 2005, causing him and Buchanan to vacate the All Asia Tag Team Titles.
Rico came out of retirement for a Future Stars of Wrestling (FSW) TV taping in Las Vegas on November 17, 2012, where he teamed up with Beast to defeat the team of Gregory Sharpe and Clutch. [16]
Costantino entered Northwestern Military and Naval Academy, graduating near the top of his class and at one point considered enrollment at West Point. Whilst attending Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Costantino returned to Las Vegas and settled into a career as a paramedic, which in turn led to enrollment in the police academy. [17] Costantino was also on the SWAT team at one point, paving the way for his next career as a bodyguard. [1]
In August 2005, Costantino completed his law enforcement training in Boulder City, Nevada, outside of Las Vegas. As of 2006, he was a Sergeant Inspector for the Nevada Taxi Cab Authority. [18] Beginning in 2016, he suffered health issues relating to heart problems and a series of concussions. [19]
Sean Allen Morley, better known by his ring name Val Venis, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 1998 to 2009. He has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
John Charles Layfield, better known by the ring name Bradshaw or JBL, is an American professional wrestling commentator and retired professional wrestler and football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is an ambassador for the company. Layfield is currently a financial commentator and is featured regularly on Fox News and Fox Business. He is also employed by Northeast Securities as its senior vice president.
Daniel Richard Hollie is an American retired professional wrestler. Hollie is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between 2003 and 2006 under the ring name Danny Basham, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Damaja.
Michael John Lockwood was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 1999 to 2003 under the ring names Crash Holly or simply Crash.
Scott Ronald Garland is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWE) under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 Hotty (1999–2007). During his WWE career, Garland held the WWF World Tag Team Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship and WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.
Barry Buchanan is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring names Recon, Bull Buchanan and B² and for his appearances with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) as Buchanan. Primarily a tag team wrestler, Buchanan is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion, All Asia Tag Team Champion, GHC Tag Team Champion and USWA World Tag Team Champion.
Monty "Kip" Sopp, better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler and coach, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also performs under the ring name Daddy Ass.
Nicholas David Dinsmore, better known by his ring name Eugene, is an American retired professional wrestler.
The Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) was an American professional wrestling tag team who consisted of Bradshaw and Faarooq. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) between October 1998 and March 2004.
Charles Ronald Palumbo 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".
Lyle Douglas Basham Jr. is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between 2002 and 2007, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Basham in 2007.
Solofa Fatu Jr. is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time World Tag Team Champion, and one-time WWE Tag Team Champion. He is a member of the Anoaʻi family of Samoan wrestlers. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his sons, wrestlers Jey and Jimmy Uso, in 2015.
Michael Bucci is an American retired professional wrestler. Bucci is best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as Nova, Super Nova, and "Hollywood" Nova and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Simon Dean.
3-Minute Warning was an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Matt Anoaʻi and Eddie Fatu, most notable for their time with WWF/E under their ring names of Rosey and Jamal, respectively. As they were the members of the prominent Anoaʻi family, Rosey was an older brother of current WWE wrestler Roman Reigns and Jamal was also a brother of Rikishi and an uncle to nephews Jimmy and Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa; the four of them used to wrestle together as The Bloodline.
Billy and Chuck were a professional wrestling tag team of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo who performed in World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 2001 to 2002. They were two-time WWE World Tag Team Champions. The two men were depicted as a same-sex couple leading to controversy from hate groups, but praise from equality groups.
Too Cool, originally known as Too Much, was an American professional wrestling tag team and group active in the World Wrestling Federation between 1998 and 2001 and for a short time in 2004 and 2014. The group contained members Grand Master Sexay, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Rikishi.
Aron Steven Haddad is an American retired professional wrestler currently working as a manager in the National Wrestling Alliance under the name Aron Stevens.
John Jeter is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2006 as Johnny, a member of The Spirit Squad.
Marc Julian Copani is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2004 to 2005, where he portrayed an Arab American under the ring name Muhammad Hassan. His career came to an abrupt end when a controversial terrorist angle coincided with the London bombings of July 7, 2005, leading the television network UPN to pressure WWE to remove Copani's character from television. Following leaving WWE, he stopped wrestling, instead working as an educator. Copani returned to wrestling in 2018 at The Dynasty event King of Thrones.
The 2002 Unforgiven was the fifth annual Unforgiven professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on September 22, 2002, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the first Unforgiven held under the WWE name, after the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE earlier that year in May, as well as the first Unforgiven held during the first brand extension that began in March.