Shark Boy

Last updated
Shark Boy
SCSA Shark Boy.jpg
Shark Boy in 2008
Birth nameDean Matthew Roll
Born (1975-01-28) January 28, 1975 (age 49) [1]
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) El Piranha [1]
Dean Baldwin [1]
Dean Roll [1]
Shark Boy [1]
Billed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [2] [3]
Billed weight180 lb (82 kg) [2] [3]
Billed from The Deep (Blue) Sea [2] [4]
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea [5]
Trained by Les Thatcher [1]
DebutMay 3, 1997 [1]

Dean Matthew Roll (born January 28, 1975) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Shark Boy. Prior to his appearances in TNA, Roll competed on the independent scene from the mid-1990s onwards before being signed by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999. Following his release from WCW six months later in 2000, Roll returned to the independent scenes, mainly competing for the World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) promotion. He would leave WWA in 2002 to join TNA, where he became a member of the TNA X Division. He would make sporadic appearances in TNA from 2009 onwards.

Contents

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (1997–2003)

Roll began training under Les Thatcher in October 1995 at the age of twenty. [5] He debuted on May 3, 1997, in Thatcher's Heartland Wrestling Association, wrestling as the masked El Piranha. An HWA mainstay, Roll also occasionally portrayed the character of Dean Baldwin, the purported fifth, lesser known Baldwin brother. [6] [7]

Later that year, Roll debuted in the Independent Wrestling Association, where he developed the cartoonish character Shark Boy, partly inspired by the 1995 song "I Come From the Water" by the Toadies. [5] [7] In 1999, Roll trademarked the name "Shark Boy". [3] [8] In 1998 and 1999, Shark Boy received a flurry of media attention. He was featured on ABC in an episode of 20/20 featuring professional wrestling, on the Discovery Channel as part of the annual Shark Week and on a documentary produced by MTV entitled True Life: I'm a Professional Wrestler. [5]

On May 19, 1999, Shark Boy wrestled at the second annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show, defeating Matt Stryker, Tarek the Great and Chip Fairway in a tournament and receiving a trophy. Following the match, numerous World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation wrestlers, including Al Snow, Mankind and D'Lo Brown, entered the ring and lifted Shark Boy onto their shoulders. [9] Shark Boy also wrestled at the 1998, 2000 and 2001 Brian Pillman Memorial Shows.

On March 11, 2003, Shark Boy wrestled a dark match for the World Wrestling Entertainment where he lost to Chris Kanyon.

World Championship Wrestling (1999–2000)

As a result of the exposure gained by his appearances on television and at the Brian Pillman Memorial Shows, coupled with his "cult" following, Shark Boy was signed to a contract by World Championship Wrestling in 1999. [7] [8] He made several appearances on WCW Saturday Night and WCW Thunder on TBS before being released six months later in early 2000. [6] [9] [10]

World Wrestling All Stars (2002)

In February 2002 Shark Boy competed for the WWA at their Revolution PPV in Las Vegas. He fought in the opening contest, a 6-Man Cruiserweight survival match. Also in the match were A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, Tony Mamaluke, and Nova. He was eliminated first in the match, which was won by Nova.

In November 2002, Shark Boy toured Europe with the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion. At the Retribution pay-per-view on December 6, 2002, Shark Boy defeated Frankie Kazarian. [6] During this same time from 2002 till its closing, Shark Boy joined and toured with XPW where he had memorable bouts with Kaos, Tracy Smothers, Juventud Guerrera, and Jerry Lynn.

On March 7, 2004, Shark Boy opened a professional wrestling school named The Shark Tank in Ohio. His most notable trainees are Dustin Thomas, Tom Bellman, Darrell Hazel, Jerrod West, Todd Mullins, Ed Gonzales, Donny Redd, Chris Ledbetter, Jake Omen, Tony X and Cannonball Sami (Sami Callihan) [6] [10]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2015)

On July 31, 2002, Shark Boy made his Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut in a dark match losing to Jimmy Rave. [11]

On the August 14, 2002 weekly TNA pay-per-view, Shark Boy showed up on Disco Inferno's talk segment Jive Talkin' without his mask playing the character Dean Baldwin, a fictional brother of the famous Baldwin actors. [12]

In 2003, he had a team with New Jack that involved getting New Jack to play board games such as Chutes and Ladders with Shark Boy. When New Jack left, Mad Mikey started teaming with Shark Boy before his untimely death in November 2003 and in 2004, he teamed with D-Ray 3000 which was his most successful tag team run. In 2008, he returned to TNA after a brief hiatus from a kayfabe coma suffered from multiple ambushes, and tweaked his Shark Boy gimmick into that of a Stone Cold Steve Austin tribute, even going as far as to drink "Clam Juice" (a reference to Austin's infamous beer drinking) in the ring after his matches. Upon his gimmick change, he would occasionally team up with Curry Man to form a comedic tag team that was a moderate success. After this gimmick change he started to talk, something he had not been heard to do before.

Shark Boy took part in TNA's TerrorDome match on May 10, but it was won by Kaz. Because of that TerrorDome match, Shark Boy was injured; he returned backstage on the July 17 episode of Impact! with Curry Man and Super Eric as part of a Justice League knock off, called The Prince Justice Brotherhood (a reference to Abyss' former name Prince Justice), where he got whipped by Beer Money, Inc. during a backstage segment. He appeared again with the Brotherhood on the July 24 episode of Impact!. Roll returned on the February 5 edition of Impact!, only to lose to the debuting Brutus Magnus in a squash match. He returned at the August 18 tapings of Impact!, only to lose against Sheik Abdul Bashir in a match broadcast on the TNA website. He was again featured on a web match after the August 31 tapings of Impact!, in another losing effort to Consequences Creed. This was his last match with the company for some time, and on October 13, 2010, Shark Boy's profile was removed from TNA's website while he spent some time working as a referee and road agent for the company. [13]

On December 5, 2010, Shark Boy made his return at Final Resolution, forcing Cookie into a shark cage during Robbie E's and Jay Lethal's match for the TNA X Division Championship. After the match, he gave Cookie a Chummer. He changed his theme back to the theme he used before the Austin gimmick began. [14] He made his return to the ring on the December 24 edition of Xplosion, in a losing effort against Robbie E. On March 3, 2011, Shark Boy announced on his website that he had requested and was granted his release from TNA. [15]

On July 10, 2011, Shark Boy made an appearance at Destination X teaming with Eric Young defeating Generation Me. [16] Shark Boy made his return to TNA on the May 23, 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling . He wrestled against Robbie E in a losing effort on the following episode of TNA Xplosion after his TV appearance. On March 17, 2013, Shark Boy appeared on TNA 10 Reunion where he was in a 10-man Gauntlet match, which was won by Matt Morgan, that aired on August 2, 2013. On March 19, 2013, Shark Boy next appeared on Hardcore Justice 2 where he won a nine-man Hardcore Gauntlet Battle Royal, which aired on July 5, 2013.[ citation needed ] He then made another appearance on November 21 at TNA Turning Point, facing Ethan Carter III in a losing effort. On October 2, 2014, Shark Boy made yet another appearance facing off against Manik and losing, then lost again on the October 15, 2014 show against Tyrus. He made an appearance in the October 29 taping during a backstage segment where he was signing autographs, getting a pep talk from road agent Pat Kenney to get back to being "the real shark" referring to when he was in his prime. Shark Boy said he would do it. On the July 9, 2015 episode of Impact, he returned as a competitor in Ethan Carter III's 3 vs 1 Gauntlet Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. This would be his last known appearance and would eventually parted ways from the company.

Return to the independent circuit (2013–present)

In August 2013, Shark Boy challenged Billy Mattern for the NWA Supreme United States Championship. Billy Mattern was disqualified due to interference by Mortimer Blankenship giving the win to Shark Boy, but Mattern would retain the championship.

Shark Boy started wrestling a lot less starting in 2014, where he only wrestled a half dozen matches. This would be followed with even less in 2015 and only one match in 2016. The following two years saw him competing in less than a dozen matches total. He didn't wrestle from November 2018, until April 2019 when he was involved in a six way scramble match at Joey Ryan's Penis Party WrestleCon event during WrestleMania 35 weekend. [17]

Return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2022–present)

On May 1, 2022, it was announced that Shark Boy would make his return to Impact Wrestling for live events on May 7 and 8 in Newport, Kentucky. [18] At Slammiversary, on June 19, 2022, Shark Boy won the Reverse Battle Royal by last eliminating Johnny Swinger. [19] [20]

Other media

Shark Boy has appeared in two video games, those being TNA Impact!: Cross the Line and TNA IMPACT!

He was featured in MTV's "True Life: I am a Pro Wrestler", talking about his experiences on the independent circuit. Fox News Personality Bill O'Reilly featured him in his segment "Fin-heads and Patriots".[ citation needed ]

Personal life

On Friday, February 22, 2008, he was inducted into the XWF (later Legends Pro Wrestling) Hall of Fame.

Roll lost most of his possessions in a house fire in February 2009. [21]

Miramax lawsuit

On June 8, 2005, Roll filed a lawsuit against Miramax Films, claiming that the Miramax release The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D infringed upon his trademark and demanded any "money, profits and advantages wrongfully gained". In November 2005, it emerged that Miramax had attempted to have the case dismissed, in addition to requesting that the court nullify Roll's trademark on the basis that "Plaintiff is a male whose services are rendered only when he is wearing a costume depicting 'shark-like' attributes." [3] [8] [22] In April 2007, the suit was settled for an undisclosed amount. [23]

Championships and accomplishments

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Waltman</span> American professional wrestler

Sean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler and martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenures in World Wrestling Federation under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac,World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Syxx and NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) as Syxx-Pac and under his real name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chavo Guerrero Jr.</span> American professional wrestler

Salvador Guerrero IV better known by his ring names Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Lucha Underground (LU), Ring of Honor (ROH) and Nación Lucha Libre (NLL).

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

Terrance Guido Gerin is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Rhyno or Rhino. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). During his career he has worked for several promotions, most notably Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Steiner</span> American professional wrestler

Scott Rechsteiner, better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonjay Dutt</span> American professional wrestler

Retesh Bhalla is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action / Impact Wrestling under the ring name Sonjay Dutt. He also worked for WWE as a producer from 2019 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Jarrett</span> American professional wrestler and promoter

Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Moore</span> American professional wrestler

Shannon Moore is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years in the 2000s. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He currently wrestles for Atomic Legacy Wrestling (ALW) where he is the current ALW Heavyweight Champion in his 3rd reign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Lynn</span> American professional wrestler

Jeremy Lynn, better known by the ring name Jerry Lynn, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Harris (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler

Christopher Eric Harris is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "Wildcat" Chris Harris. He is best known for his time with NWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA) as one-half of the tag team America's Most Wanted alongside James Storm, where the duo won the NWA World Tag Team Championship six times. He is also known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment as Braden Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juventud Guerrera</span> Mexican professional wrestler

Eduardo Aníbal González Hernández is a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Juventud "Juvi" Guerrera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elix Skipper</span> American professional wrestler

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 WCW Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion, and with NWA Total Nonstop Action, where he was a four-time NWA World Tag Team Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Swinger</span> American professional wrestler

Joseph Dorgan is an American professional wrestler currently under contract to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), using the ring name Johnny Swinger. Dorgan is also known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the Johnny Swinger name and with World Wrestling Entertainment as Johnny Parisi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Sabin</span> American professional wrestler

Joshua Harter, better known by his ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazing Red</span> Puerto Rican professional wrestler (born 1982)

Jonathan Figueroa, better known by his ring name Amazing Red, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and promoter. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former three-time X Division Champion and one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion. He has worked on the American independent circuit and appeared for Ring of Honor (ROH) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Figueroa is also the founder of House of Glory wrestling school, where he is also one of the head trainers. He is the cousin of wrestlers Joel and Jose Maximo and Zelina Vega.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kid Kash</span> American professional wrestler

David Tyler Cash, better known by his ring name Kid Kash, is an American mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler, best known for his tenures with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Christopher Ford is an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Crowbar, where he was a one time Hardcore Champion, a one time World Tag Team Champion with David Flair and a one time Cruiserweight Champion, which he held jointly with Daffney. He, Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels are the only wrestlers in history to have wrestled for World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Ring Of Honor and All Elite Wrestling. He currently performs on the independent circuit either as The Timeless One, Crowbar or Devon Storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian York</span> American professional wrestler (born 1977)

Jason Spence is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Christian York. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling and Impact Wrestling. Championships held by York over the course of his career include the NWA World Tag Team Championship as one-half of The Bad Street Boys with Joey Matthews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joaquin Wilde</span> American professional wrestler

Michael Paris is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, under the ring name Joaquin Wilde. He is a member of the Latino World Order. He was a former founding member of Legado Del Fantasma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Stone (wrestler)</span> American amateur wrestler and professional wrestler

Robert Strauss is an American professional wrestler and manager. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand as a manager and occasional wrestler under the ring name Mr. Stone. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Robbie E, where he is a former two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion as part of The BroMans with Jessie Godderz, while also being a former one-time TNA Television Champion and TNA X Division Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wes Brisco</span> American professional wrestler

Wesley Brisco is an American professional wrestler known for his time in Impact Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former member of Aces & Eights. He is a member of the Brisco wrestling family; the son of former Championship Wrestling from Florida mainstay Gerald Brisco and the nephew of former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Shark Boy Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  2. 1 2 3 "TNA Wrestling profile". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kaufman, G. (June 8, 2005). "Wrestler Shark Boy Wants To Put The Smackdown On New Flick". MTV.com . Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  4. "TNA Wrestling profile". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Valente, M. (October 5, 2003). "Shark Boy interview". Wrestling Observer . Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Milner, J. "Sharkboy". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2007-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. 1 2 3 "Interview mit dem Shark Boy". WrestlingData.com. October 1, 2003. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  8. 1 2 3 Madigan, T. (August 13, 2005). "Shark attack". Calgary Sun. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2007-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. 1 2 Steven, A. "Shark Boy Speaks With TNAHeadlines.com". TNAHeadlines.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  10. 1 2 Hickey, P. "Shark Boy Bites His Way To The Top" . Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  11. "NWA Total Nonstop Action #7 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  12. "NWA-TNA Weekly PPV 9 - 8-14-2002". PowerDriver Review. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  13. Johnson, Chris (2010-10-14). "New role for a member of the TNA roster". Gerweck. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  14. Caldwell, James (2010-12-05). "Caldwell's TNA Final Resolution PPV results 12/5: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Hardy vs. Morgan II, several title and stipulation matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  15. Gerweck, Steve (2011-03-03). "TNA Wrestling star granted his release". WrestleView. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  16. Caldwell, James (2011-07-10). "Caldwell's TNA Destination X PPV results 7/10: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Styles vs. Daniels, Ultimate X, RVD vs. Lynn". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  17. "Matches « Shark Boy « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  18. Jeremy Thomas (May 1, 2022). "Shark Boy Returning to Impact At Next Weekend's Tapings". 411mania.com. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  19. IMPACT Wrestling Staff (June 19, 2022). "Slammiversary 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  20. Powell, Jason (June 19, 2022). "6/19 Impact Wrestling Slammiversary results: Powell's live review of Josh Alexander vs. Eric Young for the Impact World Championship, Ultimate X match for the X Division Championship, Queen of the Mountain match for the Knockouts Title, The Briscoes vs. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson for the Impact Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  21. Caldwell, James (2009-02-28). "TNA News: Shark Boy loses home in tragic fire; how wrestling fans can help him rebuild". PWTorch. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  22. Madigan, T. (August 16, 2005). "Everybody wants to know". Calgary Sun. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2007-06-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. Farrell, E. (April 23, 2007). "Shark Boy Lawsuit Settlement". Warned.net. Archived from the original on May 6, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  24. 1 2 "Independent Wrestling Results – April 2004". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  25. "Buckeye Pro Wrestling Title Histories". titlehistories.com. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  26. "XBW/BWCW Rise From The Depths « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  27. "PWX Television Championship History".
  28. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 2001". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  29. "WCPBTW The Reunion: A Homecoming".