Tiny the Terrible

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Tiny the Terrible
Birth nameDouglas Allen Tunstall Jr.
Born (1967-08-19) August 19, 1967 (age 55)
Providence, Rhode Island
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Tiny the Terrible
Cloacas
Billed height4 ft 7 in (1.40 m)

Douglas Allen Tunstall Jr. (born August 19, 1967), better known as Tiny the Terrible, is an American professional wrestler and politician. During his wrestling career, he appeared as an attraction on the independent circuit and made two appearances on WWF/E Raw. He stands 4 feet 7 inches (1.40 m) tall and is a former NWA World Midget's Champion. In 2006, Tunstall unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His campaign was the subject of A Man Among Giants , a documentary film directed by Rod Webber.

Contents

Personal life

Douglas Allen Tunstall Jr. was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 19, 1967. [1] Tunstall is a dwarf who stands at 4 feet, 7 inches tall. [2] His father was a Vietnam War veteran of normal height, though Tunstall says his mother was shorter than he is. [3] In 1985, Tunstall graduated from Central Falls High School, where he partook in scholastic wrestling and claims to have won the majority of his matches in the 98-to-105-pound class. [3] He subsequently earned an associate's degree from Community College of Rhode Island and took science-related classes at Rhode Island College. [3]

Tunstall began a career in professional wrestling in the 1990s. [3] His notoriety in wrestling led to multiple appearances as a guest on The Jerry Springer Show . [3] [4] He also worked seasonally for KB Toys, where he would portray a Christmas elf. [4] In 2006, he said he had been receiving Social Security Disability Insurance since 1995. [3] He estimates his income to be $10,000 a year. [2]

Professional wrestling career

Tunstall performs as a professional wrestler under the moniker "Tiny the Terrible". [3] He often made appearances on the independent circuit in the northeastern United States, [5] including New England Championship Wrestling. [3] Tunstall and his brother Half Nelson, a fellow dwarf wrestler, would perform against 350 lb Erich "Mass Transit" Kulas. The three caught the attention of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) owner Paul Heyman, who invited them to appear at an ECW house show in 1996. This led to the Mass Transit Incident, which occurred after Kulas canceled his showcase with Tunstall to replace the absent Axl Rotten in a tag-team match against The Gangstas. Kulas was severely injured during the subsequent match, suffering two severed arteries in a botched blading from New Jack. In a 2020 episode of Dark Side of the Ring on New Jack, Tunstall recounted feeling resentment over Kulas abandoning him and his brother to take a higher profile match. [6] He defeated Half Nelson for the NWA World Midget's Championship in 1998 and held it for 167 days, before dropping it to Little Killer. [7]

Tunstall made two appearances on WWF/E Raw; he revealed in Dark Side of the Ring that New Jack secured the appearances for him in exchange for helping New Jack be acquitted of assault and battery charges against Kulas. [6] On the March 13, 2000, episode of Raw, he appeared as one half of "The Twin Towers", a dwarf duo that Stephanie McMahon joked would face The Rock at WrestleMania 2000. [8] [9] He wrestled his only WWE match on the July 25, 2005, episode of Raw under the ring name Cloacas, where he teamed with Viscera to take on Antonio of The Heart Throbs and Pocket Rocket in a winning effort. [10] [11]

Political career

He is a member of the Republican Party, which he says has made him unpopular with his friends. He supported George W. Bush during his presidency. [3] In 2004, he protested at the Democratic National Convention and told a New York Times reporter that any platform that promised to give people under five feet tall $1,200 a month would capture the dwarf demographic. [12]

Tunstall ran for mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 2006. His candidacy made him the first African-American to seek the office. He ran against the well-funded eight-year Democratic incumbent James Doyle, and stated he would use "ghetto-style politics" such as door-to-door campaigning. [3] His platform included opposing same-sex marriage, encouraging NASA to build a base in Pawtucket and giving stipends to those who took in homeless people. Ultimately, Tunstall lost the election after only collecting 17 percent of the vote. [4]

His candidacy was the subject of the documentary film, A Man Among Giants . [4] [13] After the completion of the film, Tunstall was arrested for making threats to public officials. The film's director Rod Webber bailed him out of jail, and Tunstall was subsequently committed to a mental hospital. [4]

Championships and accomplishments

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A Man Among Giants is a documentary film directed by Rod Webber which documents the misadventures of Doug 'Tiny The Terrible' Tunstall, a black, republican little-person who ran for Mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 2006. As a former WWF pro-wrestler, and toy store elf, Tiny, a self-described "ghetto republican" has a difficult time being taken seriously. The fact that he is accused of having called in a threat to a local radio station doesn't help either. And yet, with the undying tenacity of the man, there is something bizarrely endearing about Tunstall. In the words of The Boston Globe, "He is afraid of no one and, in more lucid moments, he advocates for America’s have-nots in the heartfelt words of a guy who knows whereof he speaks."

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References

  1. ↑ A Man Among Giants (Documentary). Rod Webber Productions. 2008. 1:28 minutes in. Tiny the Terrible was born Douglas Allen Tunstall Jr. on August 19, 1967 in Providence, Rhode Island.
  2. 1 2 Brown, Joel (July 9, 2009). "A Man Among Giants". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hadden, Douglas (May 2, 2006). "Former pro wrestler throws hat in ring for Pawtucket mayor". The Pawtucket Times . Archived from the original on May 17, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Woodman, Tenley (July 5, 2009). "Tiny Dreams Big". The Boston Herald . Archived from the original on October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  5. ↑ Braun, Kevin (February 13, 2000). "No small matter: WWF and WCW shun midget wrestling, but it thrives in smaller wrestling organizations". Cox News Service . Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Nason, Josh (April 12, 2020). "Vice's 'New Jack' doc a bizarre tale of revulsion, not redemption". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  7. 1 2 "World Midgets'Title". wrestling-titles.com. Puroresu. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ Leighty Jr., Robert (April 1, 2020). "411's Dark Side of the Ring – 'The Life and Crimes of New Jack' Report". 411Mania . Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  9. ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "Meadowlands: 2000". TheHistoryofWWE.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  10. ↑ Golden, Hunter (July 25, 2005). "Raw Results - 7/25/05 - Cleveland, Ohio - (Cena vs. Carlito; Eugene)". WrestleView . Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  11. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Tiny the Terrible". Cagematch. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Belluck, Pan; Santora, Marc (July 27, 2004). "The Democrats: City Scene; Mass Protests, Traffic Jams? None So Far and a Region Is Relieved". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  13. ↑ Wulff, June (July 8, 2009). "Larger Than Life". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
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