Brian Gerard (B.G.) James (born May 20, 1969) is an American
professional wrestlerProfessional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is an athletic performing art where matches are prearranged by the promotion's booking staff. It is a non-competitive sport which contains strong elements of theatre, mock combat, and catch wrestling. Wrestling's origins date to 19th-century carnival...
known for his work in
Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling , a privately controlled integrated-media and sports entertainment company, deals primarily in professional wrestling. It uses television, the Internet, and live events, with additional major revenue sources from product licensing and direct product sales...
, perhaps best known for his appearances with the
World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly-traded, privately-controlled integrated media and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF) as
"The Road Dogg" Jesse James or simply
The Road Dogg. He is a former member of
D-Generation XD-Generation X is a professional wrestling tag team wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
and the
tag teamIn professional wrestling, a tag team consists of two wrestlers who are working together as a team . Often, they are close partners and backstage friends who team with each other almost exclusively, while other times they are singles competitors who are booked together for just one match...
partner of
Billy GunnMonty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and works under the ring name Kip James...
, with whom he comprised the
New Age OutlawsThe Voodoo Kin Mafia, previously known as the James Gang, were a professional wrestling tag team in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling consisting of B.G. James and Kip James....
in the WWF and The James Gang and Voodoo Kin Mafia in
Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling , a privately controlled integrated-media and sports entertainment company, deals primarily in professional wrestling. It uses television, the Internet, and live events, with additional major revenue sources from product licensing and direct product sales...
(TNA). In the WWF, James is a
one time Intercontinental ChampionThe World Wrestling Entertainment Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is the original secondary title of WWE...
, a
one time Hardcore ChampionThe World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship defended in World Wrestling Entertainment, under hardcore rules.-History:...
and a five time Tag Team Champion with
Billy GunnMonty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and works under the ring name Kip James...
. In TNA, he is a
two timeThe National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
NWA World Tag Team ChampionThe National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
with
KonnanCharles Ashenoff , better known by his ring name, Konnan, is a semi-retired professional wrestler and rapper of Cuban Puerto Rican descent...
and
Ron KillingsRonald "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name R-Truth...
. James is also a one time world heavyweight champion after becoming the first-ever
WWA World Heavyweight ChampionThe World Wrestling All-Stars World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Wrestling All-Stars. It was the primary championship in the WWA. The title was sanctioned by WWA as their world title and defended in multiple countries, making it a...
in 2002.
Early career
James served in the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
from 1987 to 1993 and fought in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, where he was a
platoonA platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing about 30 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organised into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer...
Sergeant in command of thirty-three Marines.
The Roadie
After wrestling for a whole year in
Smoky Mountain WrestlingSmoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
as The Dark Secret and making occasional appearance for
World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and his...
as Brian Armstrong, James began his career with the
World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly-traded, privately-controlled integrated media and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
towards the end of 1994. He was billed as
The RoadieThe road crew are the technicians who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians....
, an assistant to "Double J"
Jeff JarrettJeffrey Leonard "Jeff" Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and promoter currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is also Vice President of Creative Writing. He is well known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
, a would-be country singer. He wrestled on several
pay-per-viewPay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast of that event to their homes. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
s and television shows, but most of his first WWF tenure was spent accompanying Jarrett and interfering in his matches. In early 1995, Jarrett released the song "With My Baby Tonight," that Jarrett claimed he had sung himself. The planned angle was to reveal that it was The Roadie, not Jarrett, who had really performed the vocals on this song, sparking a feud between the two wrestlers. Before this revelation could take place, Jarrett and James suddenly left the WWF following the second In Your House pay-per-view on July 23, 1995. James then joined the
United States Wrestling AssociationThe United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotional organization based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a federation founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.-Foundation:...
as Jesse James Armstrong, winning the heavyweight and tag titles before being forced to leave as a result of a loss at the hands of Jarrett.
New Age Outlaws
James returned to the WWF in 1996 as Jesse James, "The Real Double J", and revealed himself to be the true singer of "With My Baby Tonight". He languished as a midcard singles wrestler until he formed a
tag teamIn professional wrestling, a tag team consists of two wrestlers who are working together as a team . Often, they are close partners and backstage friends who team with each other almost exclusively, while other times they are singles competitors who are booked together for just one match...
with
Billy GunnMonty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and works under the ring name Kip James...
,
New Age OutlawsThe Voodoo Kin Mafia, previously known as the James Gang, were a professional wrestling tag team in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling consisting of B.G. James and Kip James....
. A change in creative direction in the WWF in late 1997 led Gunn, who had formerly been stuck under the tutelage of
The Honky Tonk ManRoy Wayne Farris , better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. Currently working on the independent circuit, he previously worked for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation...
in the unpopular gimmick of "Rockabilly", to dye his hair back to its original blond color and assume the name "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn (also known as Mr. Ass), while James became "The Road Dogg" Jesse James and he began to grow his hair out into shoulder-length cornrows. The appearance and mannerisms of the team became more and more controversial and anti-social, with the team becoming known as the New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws feuded with the
Road WarriorsThe Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team originally composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis, though other members were added later...
and the short-lived tag team of
Cactus JackMichael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American actor, author, comedian, voice over, and professional wrestler, currently signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is the storyline "Executive Shareholder"...
and
Chainsaw CharlieTerrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the later part of his career that inspired many later wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
(Terry Funk) before joining
D-Generation XD-Generation X is a professional wrestling tag team wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
the night after
WrestleMania XIVWrestleMania XIV was the fourteenth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on March 29, 1998 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts....
.
The Outlaws amassed five Tag Team Championship reigns before Gunn was legitimately injured in early 2000 and thrown out of DX to explain his absence. James then teamed with fellow DX member
X-PacSean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler. Waltman is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names 1-2-3 Kid and X-Pac, World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Syxx and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name...
throughout the summer of 2000 but failed to regain his former popularity or title success. The team eventually split, and DX fell apart. James then formed a tag team with newcomer
K-KwikRonald "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name R-Truth...
. He was suspended in December 2000 and was then was released from the WWF on January 26, 2001.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2009)
After making appearances on the
independent circuitIn professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions, particularly the current World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotions and World Championship...
, most prominently with the short-lived
World Wrestling All-StarsThe World Wrestling All-Stars was a professional wrestling promotion founded by Australian concert promoter Andrew McManus in 2001. The promotion was operated by McManus' International Touring Company. WWA was one of several promotions to come into existence shortly after the closings of Extreme...
(WWA) promotion, James debuted for the
Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling , a privately controlled integrated-media and sports entertainment company, deals primarily in professional wrestling. It uses television, the Internet, and live events, with additional major revenue sources from product licensing and direct product sales...
(TNA) promotion on September 18, 2002 wrestling as B.G. James, as the popular Road Dogg character was owned by WWE. He was initially a
villianIn professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling storylines. They are typically opposed by a babyface or more simply, face . Some tweeners exhibit heel mannerisms...
and one of the founding members of
Vince RussoVincent James "Vince" Russo is an American writer of Italian origin, known for working for American professional wrestling companies, most notably the World Wrestling Federation and later World Championship Wrestling, where he also had a stint as World Heavyweight Champion...
's
Sports Entertainment XtremeSports Entertainment Xtreme was a heel professional wrestling stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, once led by Vince Russo. It debuted in December 2002, but disbanded in mid-2003.-History:...
faction.
3Live Kru (2003–2005)
In July 2003, James formed the stable known as the
3Live KruThe 3Live Kru was a professional wrestling stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . The 3Live Kru debuted in July 2003, and was initially a trio of wrestlers, consisting of Ron Killings, Konnan and B.G. James. The gimmick of the 3Live Kru was that each member of the group exemplified a racial...
with
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
wrestler
KonnanCharles Ashenoff , better known by his ring name, Konnan, is a semi-retired professional wrestler and rapper of Cuban Puerto Rican descent...
and the
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
wrestler
Ron KillingsRonald "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name R-Truth...
. James was presented as a
white trashWhite trash is an American English pejorative term referring to individual or groups of lower social class Caucasian people that the speaker considers to lack social status. It is most frequently used as a slur to describe financially, economically or culturally disadvantaged Caucasians...
redneck. The group was popular from the outset and was notable because they sang their own entrance music as they approached the ring. The 3Live Kru turned out to be a successful gimmick as Killings held the
NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first "World Heavyweight Championship," which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title...
for a second time and all three members enjoyed Tag Title reigns.
Tension arose when James' former partner
Billy GunnMonty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and works under the ring name Kip James...
joined TNA as "The New Age Outlaw" (later shortened to "The Outlaw") in February 2005. The Outlaw repeatedly courted James, seeking to split the Kru and recreate the New Age Outlaws. When The Outlaw began feuding with the Kru, James repeatedly found his loyalties divided, unwilling to fight either his former or current tag team partners. For a time, James stopped appearing with the Kru but did not align himself with The Outlaw, who had by then changed his name to "Kip James" as a "tribute" to James' father. At Sacrifice, he reasserted his allegiance with 3LK as the special guest referee in a match between the other members of 3LK and the team of Kip James and
Monty BrownMontaque Nasir "Monty" Brown is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von...
. Kip tried to warm up to 3LK again in the lead-up to Bound for Glory by saving James several times from
Team CanadaTeam Canada was a heel professional wrestling stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, which was active from 2004 to 2006.-2004 X-Cups:In 2004, wrestling promoter and personality "Coach" Scott D'Amore brought together fellow Canadians to form his own incarnation of Team Canada in Total Nonstop...
. At Bound for Glory, he offered his protective services to them against Team Canada to neutralize
Scott D'AmoreScott Francis D'Amore is a Canadian professional wrestler, manager, promoter, booker and entrepreneur. He formerly managed Team Canada in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He was also the former head of the creative team...
. When they lost, Kip came down to the ring, appearing ready to hit Konnan with a steel chair since he originally vetoed Kip's offer. Kip instead saved Konnan from Team Canada, thus proving his original intentions.
On the November 26 episode of
Impact!, James brought Kip and the 3LK to the ring and asked Killings and Konnan to give Kip a yes/no vote to be accepted into the group. After James got heated with Konnan, both gave Kip yes votes and the 4Live Kru was born. The 4Live Kru was short lived as Konnan, still apparently upset at Kip's induction into the Kru, hit both James and Kip over the head with a steel chair at Turning Point. Konnan, still wanting Killings to be his "family," tried talking with Killings. Killings told Konnan that he was done with the Kru and wanted to leave it all behind him.
The James Gang (2006)
After the incident, James and Kip regrouped, reformed their old tag team as The James Gang and feuded with Konnan's new stable, The Latin American Xchange (LAX), which he formed with
HomicideNelson Rodriguez Erazo is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name, Homicide...
and
ApoloGermán Figueroa is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known as Nuevo Gran Apolo, or simply Apolo. Figueroa began performing in Puerto Rico's independent circuit, before entering the International Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Council...
. Apolo was sent home from the Against All Odds after complaining about being used as a
enhancement talentIn professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.The term...
and was quickly replaced by a relative unknown named
MacheteEphraim Vega is an Puerto Rican American professional wrestler and is best known working Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Machete, and in independent promotions under the name Ricky Vega.-Career:...
.
On a subsequent edition of
Impact!, James' real life father "Bullet"
Bob ArmstrongJoseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
informed The James Gang that he was sick of the shenanigans of LAX and how they always used strength in numbers to their advantage. He informed them that he was going to see
Larry ZbyszkoLawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
to have himself added to the Destination X match as their partner, effectively making it a three-man tag team. A despondent James turned to Kip and comically uttered "Mom is gonna KILL me!". "Bullet" was in fact added to the team and, they won the match at Destination X. The next month an arm wrestling match was booked between Armstrong and Konnan, where the losing team would get hit ten times with a leather whip. Armstrong prevailed with the victory, so the LAX was whipped several times upon scrambling out of the cage for survival.
Following The LAX rivalry, James and Kip went after
Team 3DTeam 3D is a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...
. The two teams cut promos arguing over their long term histories with past promotions such as
WWEWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly-traded, privately-controlled integrated media and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
and
ECWExtreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
. The rivalry came to a head at TNA Sacrifice when The James Gang beat Team 3D using a lead pipe. The James Gang and Team 3D feuded throughout the summer. They were scheduled for a number one contendership match at Hard Justice but, due to a fire, the match was canceled. The match was rescheduled for
Impact!, which the Gang lost.
On the November 2, 2006 edition of
Impact!, Kip and James announced that they were going to quit TNA. While attempting to speak about it, their microphones were cut off. When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was later reported that the segment was a
worked shootA Shoot in professional wrestling is a term that refers to any unplanned, unscripted or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. The name originates from a takedown, or shoot, in wrestling. This term has come to mean a legitimate attack or fight in professional wrestling and it's meaning has...
that
Vince RussoVincent James "Vince" Russo is an American writer of Italian origin, known for working for American professional wrestling companies, most notably the World Wrestling Federation and later World Championship Wrestling, where he also had a stint as World Heavyweight Champion...
had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return.
Voodoo Kin Mafia (2006–2008)
On the November 16 airing of
Impact!, The James Gang announced that they would now be known as Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM) (a pun on the name Vincent Kennedy McMahon). They spent their airtime bashing McMahon and both members of
D-Generation XD-Generation X is a professional wrestling tag team wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
, using their real names:
Paul LevesquePaul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of his former ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
and
Michael HickenbottomMichael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American professional wrestler. He performs for World Wrestling Entertainment , formerly the World Wrestling Federation, on its Raw brand...
. After calling Triple H "Triple Hollywood" and Shawn Michaels "Shawn Kiss-My-Bottom", VKM claimed they were declaring war on DX and Vincent Kennedy McMahon. On the November 23 airing of
Impact!, they drove around searching for their targets, but they ended up arriving at a
TargetTarget Corporation, usually known simply as Target, is an American retailing company that was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1902 as the Dayton Dry Goods Company. In 1962, the company opened its first Target store in nearby Roseville...
store. At the end of the episode, VKM argued, and Kip pointed straight ahead to the WWE World Headquarters, which prompted James to respond, "We're back!". In December 2006, as acknowledged by TNA's Website, VKM accepted
The Hardys'The Hardy Boyz were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment that consisted of real life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy....
open challenge to a match at December to Dismember. WWE never acknowledged their acceptance. Over the following weeks, VKM aired several more videos bashing DX and Vince McMahon. They also made a
$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
1,000,000 challenge to DX as announced on the TNA website. They declared 'victory' at Final Resolution, after receiving no answer from WWE. In early 2007, however, James said in a shoot interview along with his tag team partner Kip that he would jump back to WWE if he could get out of his TNA contract and got a WWE offer.
On August 4, James returned to the Boston based
Millennium Wrestling FederationThe Millennium Wrestling Federation is a New England independent professional wrestling promotion based in Melrose, Massachusetts. Founded in January 2001 by promoters Dan Mirade and Neil Manolian, the MWF is one of the top promotions in the Northeastern United States along with Chaotic Wrestling,...
's
Soul Survivor IV wrestling event and fanfest. James worked for the promotion when it opened in 2001, but no-showed a benefit for "Superstar" Billy Graham in October 2002 due to his "personal demons". MWF has brought the real life situation into the storyline. James and Beau Douglas went on to win the MWF Tag Team Championship from the Canadian Superstars (J-Busta and Dave Cole). During a pre-event question and answer session, James went into his hatred of
Jim RossJames William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator. Ross is a restaurateur, professional wrestling commentator and former company executive currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment working on its SmackDown brand as the color commentator...
and his feelings that WWE ruins families and lives. James and Douglas lost the titles back to the Canadians on October 27, 2007 at a Special Olympics fundraiser in Salem, Massachusetts. After five years of bad blood, James made peace with promoter Dan Mirade for sabotaging the Graham benefit and has agreed to return in the future.
At Turning Point, James won one of the cases in the Feast or Fired match, which was later revealed to contain a
TNA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,...
match. Instead of teaming with Kip, he chose his real life father "Bullet"
Bob ArmstrongJoseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
to be his tag team partner. B.G. and Bullet Bob lost their title match against
A.J. Styles and TomkoA.J. Styles and Tomko are former tag team partners in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling who were a part of two factions together.-Formation:...
in the opening match of Against All Odds. He and Kip had turned face but on the February 21, 2008 edition of
Impact!, Kip turned on James and James' dad "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch and thus turning heel. At
LockdownLockdown was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on April 13, 2008 at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was the fourth annual event under the Lockdown chronology. Eight professional wrestling matches were featured...
, he finally defeated Kip in a six-sides of steel match. Over the next few weeks, James only made brief cameos on
Impact!.
Sporadic appearances and departure (2008–2009)
At
Final ResolutionFinal Resolution was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on December 7, 2008 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the fifth event under the Final Resolution chronology and second Final Resolution event to take...
, James returned to TNA television for the first time in months and participated in the Feast or Fired Match, which was won by
Curry ManDaniel Christopher Covell is an American professional wrestler, best known in the United States by his ring name "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestling as Daniels. He has also wrestled as Curry Man and Suicide...
,
HomicideNelson Rodriguez Erazo is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name, Homicide...
,
HernandezShawn Hernandez is an American professional wrestler of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring names, "Hotstuff Hernandez" and "Hernandez"....
, and
Jay LethalJamar Shipman , better known by his ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler, currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. James was also seen on
Impact! two weeks later as he was trying to hold back Jeff Jarrett from fighting
Kurt AngleKurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, actor and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former three-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, as recognized by promotion.Angle was involved in amateur wrestling...
. The week afterwards, he was punched by Angle while he and Jarrett were fighting. On the January 8, 2009 edition of
Impact!, James faced off against Angle, but lost the match after Angle applied the ankle lock.
On September 15, 2009, James was released from his contract.
Personal life
James is married to Tracey E. Conant. The two were married on September 14, 1996 in
Shelby County, TennesseeShelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memphis....
. Together, they have three children, an adopted son named Dustin (born 1991), and two biological daughters named Amber (born 1997) and Hannah (born 2003).
James admits to having had problems with drugs all of his life. In high school, he began smoking
marijuanaCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
and graduated to pain killers during his time in
D-Generation XD-Generation X is a professional wrestling tag team wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
. After being suspended from the WWF, he went to rehab in an attempt to straighten out his life.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Pumphandle falling powerslam
- Signature moves
- DDT
In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler falls down or backwards to drive a held opponent's head into the mat. The classic DDT is performed by putting the opponent in a front facelock and falling backwards so that the opponent is forced to dive forward onto his or her...
- Leapfrog body guillotine to an opponent draped over the middle rope
- Piledriver
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent's head into the mat...
- Powerbomb
A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted up and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a standing headscissors position...
- Running knee drop, with theatrics
- Shake, Rattle and Roll (Three or four left-handed jabs
A jab is one of the four main punches used in boxing. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a boxing stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended...
followed by a right–handed punch, with theatrics)
- With Billy Gunn
Monty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and works under the ring name Kip James...
- Double hotshot – 1997–1998
- Spike piledriver
- Managers
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- Bob Armstrong
Joseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
- Chyna
- Konnan
Charles Ashenoff , better known by his ring name, Konnan, is a semi-retired professional wrestler and rapper of Cuban Puerto Rican descent...
- Roxxi Laveaux
Nicole Raczynski is an American professional wrestler best known for her appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Roxxi...
- Tori
Terri Poch is an American bodybuilder and former professional wrestler, best known for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Tori. She currently owns and runs a yoga studio in Portland.-Early career:...
- Harvey Wippleman
- Nickname
A nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience A nickname (also spelled "nick name") is a descriptive name...
s
- "The Real Double J"
- "The Road Dogg" Jesse James
- "B-Jizzle"
- "The Trailer Park Gangsta"
Championships and accomplishments
- Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling
- ACCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Catch Wrestling Association
The Catch Wrestling Association was a professional wrestling organization based in Germany and was founded in 1973. It was formerly run by famous AWA champion Otto Wanz. The CWA featured a traditional brand of mat wrestling mixed with various “Strong Man” competitions...
- CWA World Tag Team Championship
The CWA World Tag Team Championship was the tag team professional wrestling title in the German professional wrestling promotion the Catch Wrestling Association. It was established in 1988, and lasted until the promotion's 2000 closing.-Title history:...
(1 time) – with Cannonball GrizzlyPaul Neu is an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known under the ring name PN News and for his stints in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling...
- Maryland Championship Wrestling
Maryland Championship Wrestling is a regional independent wrestling promotion based in Dundalk, Maryland, and has regularly run events in the Mid-Atlantic region since the late 1990s as well as participating in numerous fundraising events throughout the state....
- MCW Tag Team Championship
The MCW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Maryland Championship Wrestling promotion. The title was created and debuted on August 18, 1998 at a MCW live event....
(1 time) – with Billy GunnMonty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and works under the ring name Kip James...
- Millennium Wrestling Federation
The Millennium Wrestling Federation is a New England independent professional wrestling promotion based in Melrose, Massachusetts. Founded in January 2001 by promoters Dan Mirade and Neil Manolian, the MWF is one of the top promotions in the Northeastern United States along with Chaotic Wrestling,...
- MWF Tag Team Championship
The MWF Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title in American independent promotion Millennium Wrestling Federation. The title was created when Todd Hanson & Beau Douglas defeated The Islanders in a Texas Tornado match at Iron Sheik Appreciation Night in Blackstone, Massachusetts on...
(1 time) – with Beau Douglas
- NWA Wrestle Birmingham
The National Wrestling Alliance is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Wrestle Birmingham Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship that is currently defended in the National Wrestling Alliance promotion NWA Wrestle Birmingham. The title was originally named the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship and was created in October, 1962...
(2 times)
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , a privately controlled integrated-media and sports entertainment company, deals primarily in professional wrestling. It uses television, the Internet, and live events, with additional major revenue sources from product licensing and direct product sales...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
(2 times)1 – with KonnanCharles Ashenoff , better known by his ring name, Konnan, is a semi-retired professional wrestler and rapper of Cuban Puerto Rican descent...
and Ron KillingsRonald "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name R-Truth...
- United States Wrestling Association
The United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotional organization based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a federation founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.-Foundation:...
- USWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- USWA Television Championship
The USWA Television Championship was a secondary title in the United States Wrestling Association that was primarily defended on their television show. It existed from 1996 until 1997.-Title history:...
(2 times)
- USWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tracy Smothers
Tracy Smothers is an American professional wrestler.-Early career:Tracy started his career in the Memphis promotion on Saturday morning TV. Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers started teaming as The Southern Boys in Florida Championship Wrestling in 1987 where they feuded with The New Breed...
- World Wrestling All-Stars
The World Wrestling All-Stars was a professional wrestling promotion founded by Australian concert promoter Andrew McManus in 2001. The promotion was operated by McManus' International Touring Company. WWA was one of several promotions to come into existence shortly after the closings of Extreme...
- WWA World Heavyweight Championship
The World Wrestling All-Stars World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Wrestling All-Stars. It was the primary championship in the WWA. The title was sanctioned by WWA as their world title and defended in multiple countries, making it a...
(1 time)
- World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly-traded, privately-controlled integrated media and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
- WWF Hardcore Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship defended in World Wrestling Entertainment, under hardcore rules.-History:...
(1 time)
- WWF Intercontinental Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. It is the original secondary title of WWE...
(1 time)
- WWF Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Billy Gunn
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Tag Team of the Year
The PWI Tag Team of the Year Award, given yearly since 1972 by professional wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated, recognizes the best tag team of the year as voted by readers of the magazine. The Road Warriors have won a record 4 times.-Award winners and runners-up:...
(1998) with Billy Gunn
- PWI ranked him #46 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999
- PWI ranked him #43 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" in 2003 with Billy Gunn
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
This is a list of both active and inactive Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards created by professional wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer, with the first fourteen awards being created in 1980 with an increasing number of awards given out every year; these were created to recognize the individual...
- Other titles
- CCWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- CWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
1James defended the title with either Konnan or Killings under the Freebird Rule
External links