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Daniel Christopher Covell (born December 21, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, best known in the United States by his ring name "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and has also wrestled under the name of Curry Man as well as in Japan. He works regularly for many independent promotions, and is known as King of Indies for this work, as he's worked with independent promotions all over the world, including Ring of Honor and Frontier Wrestling Alliance.
els got his start in pro wrestling at Windy City Pro Wrestling in Chicago during the early 1990s.
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Quotations
He's hot, he's spicy, he tastes great - Curry Man!
(Introduction spoken English by Japanese announcer when Daniels is in his "Curry Man" guise)
It's alright...I'm brillant. So you can all raise your voices up and sing praise to me!
Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor. God if I still had hair this place would be making it go gray!
That's the
ink1" href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Gospel">gospel according to the Fallen Angel!"
Best!
ink1" href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Moonsault">Moonsault! Ever!"
You can't beat me on your best day.
Encyclopedia
Daniel Christopher Covell (born December 21, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, best known in the United States by his ring name "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and has also wrestled under the name of Curry Man as well as in Japan. He works regularly for many independent promotions, and is known as King of Indies for this work, as he's worked with independent promotions all over the world, including Ring of Honor and Frontier Wrestling Alliance.
Career
Early career
Daniels got his start in pro wrestling at Windy City Pro Wrestling in Chicago during the early 1990s. In 2000, he tagged in the World Wrestling Federation with Aaron Aguilera as "Dos" one half of Los Conquistadores. He also challenged Taka Michinoku for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort in his Fallen Angel gimmick on WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. He also wrestled for hardcore wrestling promotions XPW and ECW.
World Championship Wrestling (2001)
On January 23 during an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Daniels had a match against Michael Modest. During the match, Daniels attempted a springboard moonsault, but his left foot went over the rope as his other foot connected. This lack of momentum left him unable to complete the rotation. He, therefore, botched the move and landed on his head with his legs towards the ropes, nearly breaking his neck. His left arm was impaired for the rest of the match. Daniels managed to continue the match to its finish. After the match, both Daniels and Modest were offered 90-day contracts, but the purchase of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation meant neither would wrestle another match in WCW. He continued to wrestle on the independent circuit and in Japan. Daniels also portrayed a hooded figure that Vampiro reported his success to after he won the Human Torch match against Sting.
Ring of Honor (2002–2007)
2002–2004
Daniels was known as one of the "Founding Fathers" of Ring of Honor, due to being in the company's main show. He wrestled in the main event of the first show, The Era of Honor Begins, in a triple threat match against Low Ki and "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. Daniels lost the match, but refused to shake hands with his opponents, thus breaking the Code of Honor, which at the time stated that all wrestlers must shake hands before and after the match. Directly following his decision not to shake hands, Daniels got on the mic and challenged both Low Ki and Danielson to a Round Robin match, which took place at ROH's second show, the Round Robin Challenge. Daniels won the first match, defeating Danielson, and forced Dragon to shake his hand. In the next match of the series, Daniels faced Low Ki. Daniels tapped out to the Dragon Clutch, but, just like the first show, Daniels refused to shake hands and stated that he could have beaten Low Ki if he had not already wrestled that night. He also said he would not step into the ring again with Low Ki unless the ROH Title was on the line. Daniels also created The Prophecy alliance during this time.
At Ring of Honor's third show, A Night of Appreciation for Eddie Guerrero, Daniels faced Donovan Morgan. They showed a mutual respect for each other, and Morgan formed a partnership with Daniels. Daniels earned the right to compete to become the first ROH Champion in a 60 Minute Iron Man match against Spanky, Doug Williams, and Low Ki. During the match, Daniels pinned Low Ki, but due to Iron Man match rules, Low Ki was still able to win the match. Daniels lost the match despite the fact he was the only person not to lose a decision by pinfall or submission. Two months later, Low Ki defended his title against Xavier. During the match, Christopher Daniels came to the ring to distract Low Ki, allowing Xavier to attack Low Ki with a chair. Low Ki lost to Xavier, who was the newest member of The Prophecy. Later that night, Daniels and Morgan won the Tag Team Title, meaning that The Prophecy held all the titles in ROH. At Glory By Honor, Daniels faced Doug Williams, and Xavier faced Jay Briscoe, as suggested by his brother Mark. The Prophecy also had plans for Low Ki that night, as they hired Samoa Joe, making his ROH debut that night, to take out Low Ki in the first ever Fight Without Honor. Low Ki won the match and shook Joe's hand. During a match, Daniels was given the Pepsi Plunge through a table by CM Punk, and he did not return for sixteen months, due to being pulled from all ROH shows by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a result of the Rob Feinstein scandal.
2005–2007
At Death Before Dishonor III, Daniels made his ROH return, challenging CM Punk for his newly won ROH Title. Punk, however, refused the challenge. The next show, Sign of Dishonor saw Daniels defeat Punk's stablemate Colt Cabana, despite interference by Punk, who attempted to hit Daniels with a steel chain (he instead hit Cabana behind Daniels' back). At Fate of an Angel, Daniels lost thanks to Punk, against the debuting Matt Hardy, but even with this loss Daniels was granted a title shot at The Homecoming. Daniels and Punk fought back and forth, eventually ending in a one hour time limit draw, just as Daniels hit the Angel's Wings. Redemption, the next ROH show, featured Christopher Daniels, James Gibson, and Samoa Joe challenging CM Punk in a Four-Way Elimination match for the ROH Title. During the match, while Christopher Daniels was covered by Joe, Daniels got his foot on the rope. Punk, however, knocked it off before the referee could see, and Daniels was eliminated. Daniels tried to get revenge, but ended up accidentally eliminating Samoa Joe.
After this, Daniels remained a permanent member of the ROH roster. He also made his first appearances in the United States as Curry Man, starting with his match against Shingo Takagi at Dragon Gate Invasion in August 2005. On November 25, 2006, Christopher Daniels teamed up with Matt Sydal to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship from Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. The pair lost the title on February 24, 2007 when Jay and Mark Briscoe defeated Daniels and Sydal to become three-time ROH World Tag Team Champions. At Good Times, Great Memories on April 28, Daniels went to a fifteen minute time-limit draw with Erick Stevens. Following the match, Daniels became a villain and quit the company. It had been his official last night in ROH, due to increased involvement with TNA.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
X Division and Tag Team Division (2002–2007)
Daniels joined TNA shortly after the company was founded in 2002. He formed a stable with Low-Ki and Elix Skipper known as Triple X, which competed in the tag division and won the NWA World Tag Team Championship. He also joined Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction. Triple X disbanded in June 2003 after Low-Ki began wrestling primarily in Japan and the remaining two members decisively lost a cage match to America's Most Wanted. After XXX disbanded, Daniels had a brief feud with Jeff Jarrett around August through September 2003. Afterwards, Daniels competed in the X Division until reviving XXX as a tag team with Skipper in July 2004. They were forced to disband once more after losing to America's Most Wanted on December 5 at Turning Point.
In 2005, Daniels engaged in a lengthy feud with A.J. Styles over the TNA X Division Championship. He won the title at Destination X in an Ultimate X Challenge with a screwjob ending. Styles had taken down the belt, but the referee was unconscious. Daniels put Styles in the Angel's Wings and took the belt when the ref came to. Daniels became the longest reigning X Division champion in TNA history, holding the belt for over 150 days. During the run, Daniels successfully defended the X Division title against Elix Skipper, Shocker, Petey Williams, Matt Bentley, Chris Sabin, and Austin Aries. Later, on September 11 at Unbreakable, Styles won back the title in a three-way dance with Daniels and Samoa Joe when Styles reversed an attempted Angels Wings into a pin.
At Genesis on November 13, Daniels received a Grade III concussion after being attacked by Samoa Joe and given a Musclebuster on a chair, following a tag match together. At Turning Point, when Joe tried to similarly injure A.J. Styles after winning the X Division Championship from him, Daniels made his return, attacking Joe and enabling members of TNA security to protect Styles and restrain Joe. At Final Resolution, Daniels was defeated by Joe when Styles threw in the towel to prevent the badly beaten Daniels from suffering serious injuries after Daniels was unable to defend himself. The next week, Daniels claimed Styles did it to get the number one contendership for the X Division Title. That same night he cost Styles a match against the "Prince of Punk" Shannon Moore by throwing in the towel, resulting in another three-way at for the title at Against All Odds, where Samoa Joe retained his title. Daniels succeeded in winning an Ultimate X match to regain the X-Division Title, but lost it on April 13, 2006 to Joe after receiving a second rope Island Driver. After losing the X Division title, Daniels was scheduled to face Jushin Liger in a Six Sides of Steel match at Lockdown, but Liger was pulled out of the match. Daniels, instead, would face a mystery opponent, who turned out to be the returning Low Ki—now named Senshi—who won the match.
Daniels then teamed with A.J. Styles, becoming the number one contenders for the NWA Tag Team Title, then held by America's Most Wanted. Daniels and Styles won the title from AMW at Slammiversary. The team feuded with The Latin American Xchange (LAX), trading the tag title back and forth with the team of Homicide and Hernandez. On November 16, 2006, Daniels competed in a triple threat match that also involved Chris Sabin and Styles in the primetime debut of TNA Impact! on Spike TV. Daniels won the match by pinning Sabin to capture his third TNA X Division Championship. He lost it to Sabin in a Three-Way bout at Final Resolution, which also involved Jerry Lynn.
Daniels then took time off from TNA for a repackaging of his character but made his return as a villain at Destination X. He distracted Lynn during his match with Sabin. After the match, the newly-bearded Daniels, sporting tribal-styled paint on one side of his face hit Sabin with the Angel's Wings and Lynn with the X Division title belt. At Lockdown, Daniels pinned Jerry Lynn in the Six Sides of Steel. At Sacrifice, Daniels pinned Rhino after hitting him with a baseball bat. Daniels next moved to a feud with Sting, costing him a King of the Mountain match qualifier by hitting him with a baseball bat. Sting then attacked Daniels the next week on Impact!. On June 17, 2007 at Slammiversary, Daniels lost a match against Sting via the Scorpion Death Drop. At Victory Road, he won a 10-Man Ultimate X Gauntlet Match to become the number one contender for the X Division Championship. Senshi and Elix Skipper helped Daniels to win the match, resulting in the reunion of Triple X. At Bound for Glory on October 14, Daniels challenged unsuccessfully for Jay Lethal's X Division Championship. On the December 6 edition of Impact!, Daniels beat Senshi in a match for his Feast or Fired briefcase, refereed by Elix Skipper. On the following week's show, after winning the feast or fired match it was revealed that Daniels' briefcase contained a pink slip, immediately causing him to be fired from TNA.
Curry Man (2008)
One month after being fired, Daniels returned to TNA as his masked persona Curry Man, soon to team up regularly with Shark Boy. Unlike the brooding serious nature of his "Fallen Angel" persona, Curry Man was much more humorous, entertaining fans with his silly antics. He feuded with Team 3D and won a "Fishmarket Street Fight" against them. On the March 13, 2008 Impact!, Curry Man qualified for the Xscape match for the X Division Title at Lockdown by beating Petey Williams. At Lockdown, he fought Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Shark Boy, Consequences Creed, and Johnny Devine. Curry Man eliminated Creed from the match after delivering the Spice Rack. He was later eliminated by Devine via the Devine Intervention.
Curry Man and Shark Boy then aligned themselves with Super Eric to form a comedic superhero-themed stable called the "Prince Justice Brotherhood". At Final Resolution, Curry Man was one of the four participants in the "Feast or Fired" match (along with Jay Lethal, and both members of LAX, Homicide and Hernandez) to collect a briefcase, in which he got the pink slip (again), meaning his contract with TNA was terminated according to the storyline.
Television and film appearances
Daniels has appeared in numerous other forms of television, including two episodes of Distraction as Curry Man, along with fellow wrestlers Frankie Kazarian and Samoa Joe, a Chef Boyardee commercial alongside Matt and Jeff Hardy and a guest appearance on the show Numb3rs alongside mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz.
Daniels competed on the January 18, 2008 episode of Merv Griffin's Crosswords, coming in at the beginning of the second round as a "Spoiler". During the show he made it to the front row once, winning a trip to Reno, Nevada in the process, but he ended the show back as a Spoiler, therefore leaving with only the consolation prize.
Daniels makes an uncredited appearance in the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat.
He has also appeared in several wrestling DVDs, including ROH's The Prophecy Foretold: The Best of Christopher Daniels and Say Your Prayers: The Best of Christopher Daniels Volume 2, as well as TNA's Heaven Sent, Hell Bound: The Best of Christopher Daniels.
Personal life
Daniels is married to Lisa and has two children, a daughter Jerica Ellen (born on September 26, 2003) and a son Joshua Allen Covell (born on October 21, 2005). Joshua's middle name is derived from Daniels' best friend A.J. Styles' first name. Daniels reads a lot of comics and has collected a lot of issues. In addition to this, Daniels is a big Marvel Comics fan; his favorite Marvel creation is the X-Men, and his favorite X-Men character is Wolverine. Daniels trades comics with other wrestlers such as Samoa Joe and Homicide. Daniels has a tattoo on his sternum of an ankh, the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph signifying "life".
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- As Christopher Daniels
- As Curry Man
- Nicknames
- "The Fallen Angel"
- "God's Gift to Wrestling"
- "The Wrestling Prophet"
- "The Lord of The Ring"
- "Mr. TNA" (Self–proclaimed)
- "Hot and Spicy" – as Curry Man
- "King of Spice" – as Curry Man
Championships and accomplishments
- All Pro Wrestling
- APW Worldwide Internet Championship (1 time)
- APW King of the Indies (2000)
- Ballpark Brawl
- Natural Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Frontier Wrestling Alliance
- FWA British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Midwest Championship Wrestling
- MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Reign
- NWA Midwest
- NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kevin Quinn
- New Age Wrestling Federation
- CT Cup Co-Holder (1 time) – with John Brooks
- Premier Wrestling Federation
- PWF United States Championship (1 time)
- Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling
- 3PW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
- ZERO1-MAX United States Openweight Championship (1 time)
- Windy City Pro Wrestling
- WCPW League Championship (1 time)
- WCPW Lightweight Championship (1 time)
- WCPW Middleweight Championship (1 time)
- WCPW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kevin Quinn (1) and Mike Anthony (1)
- World Power Wrestling
- WPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
External links
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