History
The Natural Born Thrillers were made up of seven young wrestlers, all graduates of the WCW Power Plant. They were trained by Paul Orndorff and WCW management decided to push them immediately.
The WCW Power Plant was a former professional wrestling school located at 1530 Carrol Drive in Atlanta, Georgia. It was owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling. The Power Plant was in operation throughout the 1990s. It stopped holding tryouts in December 1999 and closed in March 2001 when WCW's assets were sold to the World Wrestling Federation.
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Orndorff became a star in the 1980s WWF wrestling boom. Orndorff's feud with Hulk Hogan in 1985–1986 is a highlight of his career. Orndorff departed the WWF for WCW in early 1988. After retiring, Orndorff worked as a professional wrestling trainer. In 2011, Orndorff was diagnosed with cancer, but went through treatment and was declared cancer free by the end of 2011.
The Thrillers were Mike Sanders who was the leader of the group, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Shawn Stasiak, Reno, Mark Jindrak and Johnny the Bull. [1] They became the enforcer group for Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff, replacing The Filthy Animals, who they quickly began feuding with. [2] Tension between the two teams quickly grew as the Thrillers attacked their former trainer, Orndoff, and the Animals saved him. At Fall Brawl, the Thrillers and the Animals had an elimination match. [3] After the Thrillers eliminated all but two members of the Animals, the match ended in a no-contest after Orndoff legitimately injured himself attempting a piledriver. [3] The next night on Nitro, the Thrillers faced off against the two survivors, Rey Misterio Jr. and Tygress, and lost. [4]
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.
Charles Robert Palumbo is an American mechanic, reality television personality and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation 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.
Sean Christopher Haire was an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer, better known by his ring name, Sean O'Haire.
The following week, Jindrak and O'Haire won a battle royal to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. [5] [6] Sanders became the new WCW commissioner by defeating Ernest Miller, and he declared the WCW Hardcore Championship vacant. He set up a tournament to crown the new champion, which was won by Sgt. AWOL. [7] Sanders, however, reversed the decision and the title was awarded to Reno. [7] In October, Jindrak and O'Haire lost the tag titles to Lt. Loco and Cpl. Cajun, but won them back the same night, when Sanders made an immediate rematch. [6]
In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner. Typical battle royals begin with a number of participants in the ring, who are then eliminated by going over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor.
The WCW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling Federation. It was the original world tag team title of WCW and remained active until it was unified with the WWF Tag Team Championship.
Ernest Clifford Miller is an American actor and former professional wrestler who worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) better known by his ring name, Ernest "The Cat" Miller. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for his role in the 2008 drama The Wrestler.
They were later "coached" by Kevin Nash, who helped Sanders win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a Powerbomb match, after he powerbombed Elix Skipper. [7] The Thrillers later turned on Nash, however, and a handicap match with O'Haire, Palumbo, and Stasiak, against Nash went to a no-contest. [8] Jindrak and O'Haire lost the Tag Team Championship to Boogie Knights on the November 20 edition of WCW Monday Nitro , but the following week, Stasiak and Palumbo, as The Perfect Event, won the tag team titles from the Boogie Knights. [6] [9] [10] The Perfect Event feuded with Nash and his new partner, Diamond Dallas Page, who called themselves The Insiders. At Mayhem, The Insiders won the Tag team Championships, but Sanders later stripped them of the titles.
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently performing on the Independent circuit and signed to WWE under a Legends contract.
Elix Skipper is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion, and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was a four-time NWA World Tag Team Champion.
WCW Monday Nitro is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001, when WCW's assets were purchased by the WWF. For its entirety, the program went head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw.
Sanders lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Chavo Guerrero, Jr. on the December 6 edition of WCW Thunder . [11] The following week, Sanders set up a handicap match between Guerrero and the Perfect Event, which the Perfect Event won. [12] Sanders also set up a three-way dance between the Insiders, O'Haire and Jindrak, and the Perfect Event, which the Perfect Event won. [13] At Starrcade, the Insiders beat the Perfect Event for the tag team Championships, despite O'Haire and Jindrak's interference. [14]
WCW Thunder is a professional wrestling show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001.
Starrcade (2000) was the eighteenth 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.
Sanders then announced a tag team Battle Royal for the number one contendership to the tag team Championships. [15] [16] The final two teams in the battle royal were O'Haire and Jindrak, and the Perfect Event. [15] Sanders declared both teams the winner, and announced that one member from each team would compete for the titles. [15] Palumbo and O'Haire later won them in early January 2001, at Sin. [6] Sanders permanently lost the Commissioner position back to Miller. [2]
By February 2001, the Thrillers had broken up as tensions grew between Stasiak and Jindrak, and Palumbo and O'Haire. [15] Stasiak and Jindrak demanded a tag title shot, and got it at SuperBrawl Revenge, but O'Haire and Palumbo retained. [15] At WCW Greed on March 18, Palumbo and O'Haire pinned Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger in a 54-second squash, [17] and on the final episode of Nitro on March 26, retained the belts over Lance Storm and Mike Awesome to finish as the last tag team champions in WCW history. They moved on to the WWE after it had bought out WCW, [18] while Stasiak and Jindrak moved into singles competition [2] [15] and Johnny the Bull reunited with Big Vito to reform The Mamalukes, but neither Jindrak nor Reno rose to much prominence after the Thrillers. [19] [20] [21]
