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Al Green (wrestler)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Rage (wrestler)" redirects here. For the wrestler who competed in World Championship Wrestling during the 1990s, see Robbie Rage. For wrestler who competed under the name "Al Greene" in the 1960s and 1970s, see Al Denney. For wrestler who performed as "Big Al", see 911 (wrestler).

Al Green
Birth nameAlfred Dobalo
Born(1955-10-15)October 15, 1955
Tampa, Florida, United States
DiedJune 14, 2013(2013-06-14) (aged 57)[1]
Tampa, Florida, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Al Green
Al Knitti
Big Al Green[2]
Blade[2]
Bounty Hunter #1
(The) Dog[2]
Rage
Billed height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[2]
Billed weight280 lb (127 kg)[2]
Billed fromTampa, Florida[2]
Trained bySteve Keirn[2]
Debut1989
Retired2007

Alfred Dobalo[1] (October 15, 1955 – June 14, 2013) was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Al Green. In his career, he performed in North America, Europe, and Japan under a variety of gimmicks, including in multiple stints in World Championship Wrestling as Rage as one half of the team The Wrecking Crew with Fury, Blade as one half of the Master Blasters with Steel, and finally as a singles wrestler as The Dog.

Professional wrestling career

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Green was trained for a professional wrestling career by Steve Keirn, making his debut in 1989.

World Championship Wrestling (1989 - 1991)

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Green made his professional wrestling debut in World Championship Wrestling, appearing on a World Championship Wrestling taping on June 15, 1989 in August, Georgia in a loss to WCW Television Champion Sting. The rookie was slotted at the bottom of the roster and suffered an early defeat to Ricky Santana. He formed a short lived team with Ron Simmons and faced The Midnight Express that summer, but was winless.

Green's first victory came on July 22, 1989 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he and Simmons defeated Scott Hall & Joey Maggs. However the duo soon split as Simmons moved to a partership with Butch Reed as Doom, while Green began teaming with Lee Scott. The new tandem was unsuccessful, losing to The Ding Dongs on house show matches in August 1989. Green then began teaming with Bill Irwin that month, and the team defeated The Ding Dongs on August 24 in Raleigh, North Carolina. His final match of his first year came on August 27, 1989 in New Haven, Connecticut where he was defeated by Ranger Ross. [3]

The Master Blasters

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On September 22, 1990 Blade was a replacement for Iron, who left World Championship Wrestling after only one match. The reconstituted Master Blasters continued their undefeated streak in October. Meanwhile, Kevin Nash would have his first singles match on September 28, defeating Tom Zenk in Baltimore, Maryland.[4] At Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1990, in Chicago, Illinois the Blasters upended The Southern Boys and began to move up the WCW tag-team ratings. However their winning streak would finally come to an end on November 22 at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia when Tom Zenk & Brian Pillman handed them their first defeat (Pillman pinning Blade). They rebounded to go on another undefeated streak, defeating The Southern Boys as well as Alan Iron Eagle & Tim Horner and earning a US Tag-Team title shot against the champions The Steiner Brothers. The Steiners however were victorious in matches on December 25 and December 26.[4]

They were pinned as well on television in 52 seconds by the Steiners in a match that aired on WCW Worldwide on February 2, 1991. Following this loss their momentum began to dissipate as the Blasters would suffer follow-up losses to the Southern Boys and Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich. The team disbanded at the end of the month, with Nash briefly continuing to wrestle simply as "The Master Blaster" until being given the new gimmick of "Oz" in May 1991. Meanwhile, Green would leave WCW to compete for Florida Championship Wrestling in The Bounty Hunters tag team as "Bounty Hunter #1". The team won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship in November, but when Green's partner (Tim Parker) was injured, The Terminator stepped in and defended the tag team titles with Green. The team held the gold until the Nasty Boys beat them on a card in Nassau, Bahamas on January 6, 1991.[5]

The Wrecking Crew

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While the team with The Terminator was a makeshift team at first, but they began teaming regularly first under the name The Terminators then later on as The Wrecking Crew where the Terminator became known as Fury and Al was renamed "Rage". The team competed for the International Wrestling Federation based in Florida showing themselves to be a force in the tag team division. On May 28, 1992, the duo beat IWF Tag Team Champions The Long Riders (Brett Colt and Kip Winchester).[5]

By late 1992 the Wrecking Crew got signed by World Championship Wrestling, making their debut in January 1993.[6] Shortly after their debut the Wrecking Crew got national exposure by competing at Clash of the Champions XXII on January 13 where they defeated Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn.[7]

After their success at the Clash the team rode on a wave of success defeating Gunn and Zenk repeatedly,[8][9] as well as looking impressive against temporary teams such as 2 Cold Scorpio and Johnny B. Badd,[10] and Marcus Bagwell and Joey Maggs.[11]

By March the team was contesting a series of matches with future WCW World Tag Team Champions 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell[12] as well as feuding with the identical twin duo known as The Cole Twins (Keith and Kent Cole).[13] The feud with the Cole Twins was soon expanded to also include Bagwell and Scorpio as well as Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce.[14] As the feud wore on the Cole Twins got the upper hand in the feud over the two big men.[15] The Wrecking Crew also faced Cactus Jack and The Barbarian in a series of house show matches.[16]

As Summer turned to fall the Wrecking Crew's time with WCW ended, returning to the independent scene. In 1994 the Wrecking Crew traveled to Europe to work for Otto Wanz’ Catch Wrestling Association. On July 24 they defeated David Finlay and John Hawk in the finals of a tournament to crown new CWA Tag Team Champions after Larry Cameron had died during a match.[5] Fury and Rage held the belts for only three weeks before being unseated by CWA regulars August Smisl and Ulf Herman in Vienna, Austria.[5]

In 1995, the Wrecking Crew toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling over the summer being put over young teams like Kentaro Shiga and Mannukea Mossman.[17] The highlight of their summer tour was a clash with multiple time All Asia Tag Team Champions Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat which the Wrecking Crew lost.[18]

Return to WCW

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Green performed in WCW during the late 1990s, mainly on low level programs like WCW Saturday Night. On August 31, 1998 he faced Goldberg in a losing effort in the co-main event of WCW Monday Nitro. While doing guest commentary, Kevin Nash made reference to Green being a former tag team partner of his (also making a pun of his name, relating to the more famous singer Al Green). In 2000, he was repackaged as "The Dog" when he formed a hardcore tag team managed by Fit Finlay with former Nasty Boy Brian Knobs.[2] Green's mannerisms in this gimmick were those of a stereotypical attack dog and would have habits not unlike dogs, including drinking from the toilet. He was a last minute replacement in their group for Sabu, who could not start for WCW due to contract issues. He only had five victories over Mike Sanders, Glacier, Damian (twice) and Evan Karagias. Upon the acquisition of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation in early 2001, Green's contract was one of the assets not taken.

Other appearances

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Green made appearances for the short lived WXO in 2000 under a mask and other Florida independent promotions.[19] He retired from wrestling in 2001. Six years later, on April 27, 2007 Green made a one night appearance against Abdullah the Butcher at Memphis Wrestling's PMG Clash of Legends where the match ended in a no contest. Green's last television appearances were as a guest on the reality shows Hogan Knows Best and Brooke Knows Best on VH1.

Death

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Green died on June 14, 2013, at the age of 57. He had been suffering from COPD for some time before his death.[20][21]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b "FORMER WCW WRESTLER AL "THE DOG" GREEN PASSES AWAY".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Al Green profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 31, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  3. ^ https://thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw-results-1989/
  4. ^ a b "History of WWE". History of WWE. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  6. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". January 1993. (shown on WCW World Wide January 16) The Wrecking Crew defeated Joey Maggs and Johnny Rich at 4:24 when Rage pinned Maggs following an overhead backbreaker / elbow off the top double team
  7. ^ "WCW Clash of the Champions Results (XXII)". prowrestlinghistory.com. January 13, 1993. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007.
  8. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". February 2, 1993. (shown on WCW Saturday Night on February 20) The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk
  9. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". February 19, 1993. The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk
  10. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". January 24, 1993. 2 Cold Scorpio & Johnny B. Badd fought the Wrecking Crew to a draw
  11. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". January 28, 1993. The Wrecking Crew defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Joey Maggs
  12. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". March 3, 1993. 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated the Wrecking Crew
  13. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". March 8, 1993. (shown on WCW Saturday Night on March 13) Keith & Kent Cole defeated Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce when Pierce was pinned following a double dropkick at around the 3:30 mark; after the bout, the Coles avoided an attack from the Wrecking Crew, Tex & Shanghai
  14. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". April 27, 1993. (shown on WCW Saturday Night on May 1) The Wrecking Crew, Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce defeated 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Keith & Kent Cole via disqualification
  15. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". May 2, 1993. Keith & Kent Cole defeated the Wrecking Crew
  16. ^ "WCW Show Results 1993". April 2, 1993. Cactus Jack & the Barbarian defeated the Wrecking Crew when Cactus pinned Rage
  17. ^ "AJPW Budokan Hall Show Results (1991–1995)". March 4, 1995. The Wrecking Crew beat Kentaro Shiga & Maunukea Mossman (7:41)
  18. ^ "AJPW Budokan Hall Show Results (1991–1995)". July 24, 1995. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas beat The Wrecking Crew (10:49)
  19. ^ "Induction: WXO - Wasn't X-actly Outstanding". WrestleCrap - The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling!. August 2, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  20. ^ "FORMER WCW WRESTLER AL "THE DOG" GREEN PASSES AWAY – PWInsider.com".
  21. ^ "Alfred 'Big Al Green' Dobalo". Tampa Bay Times (via Legacy.com). June 17, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
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