Rip Rogers

Last updated

Rip Rogers
Rip Rogers and Brenda Britton 1985.png
Rogers (front) and Brenda Britton (back), circa 1985
Birth nameMark Sciarra [1]
Born (1954-02-07) February 7, 1954 (age 70)
Seymour, Indiana, U.S. [1]
Alma mater Indiana Central College [1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Disco Kid
Hercules Simard
Mark Skeara
Rip Rogers [1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [2]
Billed weight215 lb (98 kg) [2]
Billed fromSeymour, Indiana
Lexington, Kentucky [2]
Debut1975 [2]
Retired2010

Mark Sciarra (born February 7, 1954), better known by his ring name Rip Rogers, is an American retired professional wrestler. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Sciarra was born in Seymour, Indiana on February 7, 1954. He graduated from Seymour High School in 1972 and went on to attend Indiana Central College, graduating in 1976. Sicarra worked as a teacher for a year before deciding to become a professional wrestler. [1]

Professional wrestling career

Rip Rogers started wrestling in 1975. [2] He formed the "Convertible Blondes" with Pez Whatley and Gary Royal in Angelo Poffo's International Championship Wrestling (ICW) and won the Tag Team Titles with Royal. As with The Fabulous Freebirds defending regional NWA tag team championships with any two of the three members, the Convertible Blondes also used the so-called "Freebird Rule" to defend the ICW Tag Team Championship in this manner. He left the ICW following a dispute with Angelo Poffo's son Randy Poffo, better known by his ring name Randy Savage.

In 1979, Rogers went to the National Wrestling Alliance's Portland territory, Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he was aligned with Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskoski. He would also make trips to Vancouver's All-Star Wrestling.

In 1984, he went to the Mid-Atlantic territory, Jim Crockett Promotions, where he formed "The Hollywood Blonds" with Ted Oates and won the National Tag Team Titles. By early 1986, he was in the Memphis territory, Continental Wrestling Association, feuding with Dutch Mantel.

In September 1986, "The Hustler," managed by his then-wife Brenda Britton, [5] joined Continental Championship Wrestling and immediately feuded with "The Exotic" Adrian Street and Miss Linda, until leaving the Gulf Coast area in March 1987.

Rogers wrestled as a heel in Bob Geigel's Central States promotion during most of 1987.

The Ripper spent most of 1988 and 1989 in Calgary Stampede Wrestling. Strangely given his history and reputation he was mainly a lower to mid card performer. Yet he always seemed to get a rise out of the crowd as an antagonizing heel. Rogers received a small push near the end of his run in Stampede (the territory shut up shop at the end of '89). When he teamed with longtime Stampede veteran Kerry Brown as part of the Midnight Cowboys tag team. They had a running feud with popular International Tag Team Champs Bad Company, which included Bruce Hart and Flyin' Brian Pillman.

In 1989, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico as one of their top heels with partner Abbuda Dein.

He was back in the NWA in time for it to be renamed World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He wrestled in WCW from 1991 to 1994 as a jobber and he lost several matches to Pillman. Rogers later substituted for Pillman, being the scapegoat in the ill-fated Yellow Dog angle. His biggest win was at Battlebowl in 1993 where he teamed with Road Warrior Hawk (who attacked him prior to the match but later used him to his advantage during the finish) and defeated Davey Boy Smith and Kole to qualify for the battle royal main event, though he was the first man eliminated in that 16-man bout. By late 1993, he had left WCW for the Global Wrestling Federation where he joined The Cartel, which included Scotty Anthony, Makhan Singh and Cactus Jack. They were the top heels for several months and he created a lot of havoc while there.

After that run, he occasionally wrestled in the United States, wrestling for a time with a promotion in Indianapolis known as Circle City Wrestling. He finally settled in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in 1997. He teamed with Dave the Rave and formed the "Suicide Blondes" with Jason Lee. When he retired from active competition in 2000, he was named head trainer at OVW. At the age of 48, Rogers was hit by a car and sustained injuries which forced him to completely retire from in-ring competition; according to a 2011 story on OVW, the accident left him "with a stiff limp". Rogers currently runs an advanced wrestling class at OVW, where he teaches up and coming wrestlers. [3] [6]

As head trainer for OVW, Rogers has been involved in training over thirty wrestlers who appeared in WWE or Impact Wrestling, notably including John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Dave Bautista, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, Mark Henry, and The Miz. [7]

Rogers was known for his berserk reaction after losing a match. Even after being cleanly pinned, Rogers would vociferously protest to the referee that his opponent had cheated. Usually, he would claim that his hair or trunks had been pulled by the other wrestler to score the victory. These claims would be accompanied by a frenzied voice and wild pantomimes of hair and trunk pulling. Rogers wrestled his last match on August 6, 2010, for Pro South Wrestling losing in a 6-man tag match in Alabama.

Boxing career

Rogers also fought in 3 professional boxing matches in 1996 at 41 years old. His record stands at 1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw, with 1 TKO. He was trained by longtime friend Bobby "Sweetpain" Duchi, a veteran professional boxer, kickboxer, and champion weightlifter.

Other media

Rogers made an appearance in the 1993 music video for "Human Wheels" by fellow Seymour native John Mellencamp.

Rogers has made some appearances on The Pat McAfee Show , when it was part of Barstool Sports.

Personal life

Sciarra is married. [8]

Championships and accomplishments

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Pillman</span> American professional wrestler (1962–1997)

Brian William Pillman was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lanny Poffo</span> Canadian-American wrestler (1954–2023)

Lanny Mark Poffo better known by his ring names "Leaping" Lanny Poffo and the Genius, was a Canadian-American professional wrestler, motivational speaker, poet, and actor. Poffo was a second generation professional wrestler, his father being Angelo Poffo. His brother Macho Man Randy Savage was also a professional wrestler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harley Race</span> American professional wrestler, promoter and trainer

Harley Leland Race was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Rich</span> American professional wrestler

Thomas Richardson is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion. He primarily appeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling and Memphis throughout the 1980s, as well as World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the 1990s. He is a 1974 graduate of Hendersonville High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler and booker (1949–2024)

Kevin Francis Sullivan was an American professional wrestler and booker, best known for his role in World Championship Wrestling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendall Windham</span> American professional wrestler (born 1967)

Kendall Wayne Windham is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling. He is the son of Blackjack Mulligan and the brother of Barry Windham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pez Whatley</span> American professional wrestler (1951–2005)

Pezavan Whatley was an American professional wrestler best known for his time with NWA Mid-America.

<i>Clash of the Champions</i> World Championship Wrestling professional wrestling television program

Clash of the Champions is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that were produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The specials were supercards comprising pay-per-view caliber matches, similar to the World Wrestling Federation's Saturday Night's Main Event series. The Clash of the Champions shows were famous for typically not airing commercials during matches even though many of these matches lasted 20 minutes or more.

The Hollywood Blonds is a name used by several professional wrestling tag teams over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassidy O'Reilly</span> American professional wrestler

Cassidy James Riley, also known as Kassidy James, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moondog Rex</span> American professional wrestler (1950–2019)

Randy Colley was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Moondog Rex. He was best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation as a part of The Moondogs. Colley was also one of the original members of the tag team Demolition, performing under the ring name Smash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ox Baker</span> American professional wrestler and actor (1934–2014)

Douglas Albert Baker Sr. was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known professionally as Ox Baker. He was famous for his distinctive eyebrows and finishing move, the Heart Punch, sometimes called the "Hurt Punch", after Baker's famous catchphrase "I love to hurt people!". He appeared in several films including Blood Circus and Escape from New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Championship Wrestling</span> Professional wrestling promotion active from 1978 to 1984

International Championship Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Lexington, Kentucky, which operated from 1978 until 1984. It was run by Angelo Poffo, the father of Randy Savage and "The Genius" Lanny Poffo. Throughout its history, ICW was considered an "outlaw" promotion, as it was not a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and promoted shows in direct competition against NWA regional territories. The rights to the ICW library are currently owned by WWE.

Todd Dale Veasey is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Dale Veasey and Lt. James Earl Wright, who competed in North American regional promotions including the Mid-South region and the National Wrestling Alliance, particularly the Georgia and Florida territories, as well as brief stints in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling, most notably as one half of the tag team State Patrol with Buddy Lee Parker during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronko Lubich</span>

Bronko Sandor Lupsity was a Hungarian-born Serbian Canadian professional wrestler, manager, referee and promoter. Known by his ring names Bronco or Bronko Lubich, he and Aldo Bogni were veteran "heels" under manager "Colonel" Homer O'Dell competing in regional territories for the National Wrestling Alliance in Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and Southeastern United States throughout the 1960s. He and Bogni were particularly active in the Charlotte-area where they feuded with "The Flying Scotts". They also had memorable feuds with George Becker and Johnny Weaver, Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson, Lars and Ole Anderson and Mr. Wrestling and Sam Steamboat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SuperBrawl I</span> 1991 World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view event

SuperBrawl was the inaugural SuperBrawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The show took place on May 19, 1991 and was held at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Rocky Iaukea is a retired American professional wrestler, known by his ringname Prince Iaukea, who competed in the Pacific Northwest and Southeastern United States with the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1980s, and in Japan during the early 1990s. From 1984 to 1990, he wrestled as Abudadein in Pacific Northwest Wrestling winning the NWA Pacific Northwest Television Championship twice and the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship three times with Mike Miller and The Grappler. A second-generation wrestler, he is the son of Curtis Iaukea and a cousin of Maunakea Mossman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great American Bash (1989)</span> World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view event

The 1989 Great American Bash was the first Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner and the fifth annual Great American Bash event overall; the previous events were held by the former NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. It took place on July 23, 1989, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the second Great American Bash held at this venue after the 1988 event.

The Batten Twins were a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of twin brothers Bart and Brad Batten. They performed under the "Batten Twins" name in Central States Wrestling, Continental Wrestling Association, International Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, Southern Championship Wrestling, Texas All-Star Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Council, and the name U.S. Express in World Class Championship Wrestling. The team also appeared in various independent promotions during the 1990s including, most notably, Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Southern States Wrestling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Izzy Slapawitz</span> American professional wrestler (1948–2019)

Jeff Smith, better known as Izzy Slapawitz, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator, best known for his time with International Championship Wrestling.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Betty Lou Mitchell; Elizabeth Rebber (1901). Carbondale: A Pictorial History. G. Bradley Publ. p. 193. ISBN   978-0-943963-20-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dave Meltzer (1986). The Wrestling Observer's Who's who in Pro Wrestling. Wrestling Observer. p. 96.
  3. 1 2 Marshall, Anne (December 7, 2011). "Learning the ropes". Louisville Eccentric Observer . Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ "DUCHI FIGHTS". Columbus Indiana Republic. October 1995.
  5. ↑ Oliver, Greg (October 22, 2007). "'HUSTLER' RIP ROGERS LEARNED HIS LESSONS WELL". Slam Wrestling.
  6. ↑ James Dixon; Arnold Furious; Lee Maughan (2013). The Raw Files: 1995. Lulu.com. p. 20. ISBN   978-1-291-47083-3.
  7. ↑ Caleb Hall (2018). The Book on Pro Wrestling: Lessons from Rip Rogers. Independently published. ISBN   978-1-7238422-0-7.
  8. ↑ Adam Copeland (2004). Adam Copeland on Edge. Simon and Schuster. p. 98. ISBN   978-0-7434-8347-6.
  9. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
  10. ↑ "OVW Title Histories - OVW Heavyweight Championship". Ohio Valley Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  11. ↑ "OVW Title Histories - OVW Southern Tag Team Championship". Ohio Valley Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
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.