Erik Watts
Encyclopedia
Erik Watts is an American
professional wrestler
. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling
in the early 1990s. He is the son of legendary wrestler "Cowboy" Bill Watts
.
, where he was a quarterback
for the Louisville Cardinals
. Watts later trained as a wrestler under his father, Bill Watts
, and debuted in 1992. After wrestling for three months, he was hired by World Championship Wrestling
. While in WCW, Watts feuded
with Arn Anderson
. His constant pushes
were controversial in that his father was WCW's booker at the time, leading to accusations of nepotism
.
. In the WWF, Watts was renamed "Troy" while Chad Fortune
was renamed "Travis" and put in a tag team known as Tekno Team 2000
. Wearing silver smocks and tight zubaz
, their gimmick was that they represented the cutting edge of cyberculture. Their tag team made its debut on the May 27, 1995 episode of Superstars in a victorious effort against The Brooklyn Brawler
and Barry Horowitz
. They wrestled two more matches on TV the following month before disappearing from television until reappearing at the second ever In Your House
pay-per-view, acting as lumberjacks for the main event. After the event, disappeared off of television for a year, only to resurface back on WWF television in 1996. They still failed to achieve any success and both men were released from the WWF.
promotion in 2000, losing to Spike Dudley
in his ECW Arena debut. He remained with the promotion for several months before departing.
In 2002, Watts joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
. He eventually formed a heel
stable with David Flair
and Brian Lawler
(two other second generation wrestlers whose careers were overshadowed by those of their famous fathers, Ric
and Jerry
) known as "The Next Generation". After the faction disbanded, Watts turned face
. He acted as the TNA Director of Authority from July 23, 2003 to January 28, 2004, before being ousted from his position by Don Callis
. Watts then feuded with his on-screen girlfriend, Goldy Locks, throughout 2004. In late 2004, he feuded with Raven
, defeating him at Final Resolution
on January 16, 2005 before leaving the promotion in February.
-based Great Championship Wrestling promotion. He also appeared with AWA Superstars of Wrestling
, defeating Diamond Dallas Page
for the vacant International Heavyweight Championship on February 4, 2005 in Tucson, Arizona
in a match refereed by Mick Foley
. The title was retired by the AWA Board of Directors later that year. In November 2009, Watts returned to Great Championship Wrestling, now based in Phenix City, Alabama
, to be the promotion's booker. He is also playing an authority role on their weekly live events.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. 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...
in the early 1990s. He is the son of legendary wrestler "Cowboy" Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
.
Debut
Watts attended the University of LouisvilleUniversity of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
, where he was a quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for the Louisville Cardinals
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals are the athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. A member of the Big East Conference since 2005, they are known nationally as traditional powers in men's basketball, women's volleyball, and dance team...
. Watts later trained as a wrestler under his father, Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
, and debuted in 1992. After wrestling for three months, he was hired by World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. 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...
. While in WCW, Watts feuded
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
. His constant pushes
Push (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a push is an attempt by the booker to make the wrestler win more matches and become more popular or more reviled with the fans depending on whether they are a heel or a face...
were controversial in that his father was WCW's booker at the time, leading to accusations of nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
.
World Wrestling Federation
In 1995, Watts followed his father to the World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
. In the WWF, Watts was renamed "Troy" while Chad Fortune
Chad Fortune
Chad Fortune is a monster truck driver, former professional football player and former professional wrestler in both WWF and WCW.-Football career:Fortune played tight end at the University of Louisville from 1986-1989...
was renamed "Travis" and put in a tag team known as Tekno Team 2000
Tekno Team 2000
Tekno Team 2000 was a professional wrestling tag team that competed in the World Wrestling Federation from 1995 to 1996. The team was composed of Troy and Travis . Although the team started off with a strong push from the WWF, they did not continue their initial success...
. Wearing silver smocks and tight zubaz
Zubaz
Zubaz is a brand of shorts and pants that became popular during the early 1990s. They were created in 1988 by two professional wrestlers, the Road Warriors, as a comfortable, functional short for weightlifting....
, their gimmick was that they represented the cutting edge of cyberculture. Their tag team made its debut on the May 27, 1995 episode of Superstars in a victorious effort against The Brooklyn Brawler
Steve Lombardi
Steve Lombardi is an Italian American professional wrestler, and road agent. He is also known by his ring name Brooklyn Brawler...
and Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:Horowitz, who is Jewish, attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled...
. They wrestled two more matches on TV the following month before disappearing from television until reappearing at the second ever In Your House
In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks
In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was the second pay-per-view of the In Your House series. It took place on July 23, 1995 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.Seven professional...
pay-per-view, acting as lumberjacks for the main event. After the event, disappeared off of television for a year, only to resurface back on WWF television in 1996. They still failed to achieve any success and both men were released from the WWF.
Extreme Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
After several years of relative obscurity, Watts joined the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme 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...
promotion in 2000, losing to Spike Dudley
Matt Hyson
Matthew "Matt" Hyson is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Spike Dudley and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Brother Runt.In ECW, he was a two-time...
in his ECW Arena debut. He remained with the promotion for several months before departing.
In 2002, Watts joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
. He eventually formed a heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
stable with David Flair
David Flair
David Richard Fliehr better known by his ring name David Flair is a professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling , where he held the United States and World Tag Team championships...
and Brian Lawler
Brian Lawler
Brian Christopher Lawler is a professional wrestler. He is the son of color commentator and professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and brother of wrestling referee Kevin Christian...
(two other second generation wrestlers whose careers were overshadowed by those of their famous fathers, Ric
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
and Jerry
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
) known as "The Next Generation". After the faction disbanded, Watts turned face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
. He acted as the TNA Director of Authority from July 23, 2003 to January 28, 2004, before being ousted from his position by Don Callis
Don Callis
Don Callis is a Canadian former professional wrestler and manager, known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as The Jackyl, and Extreme Championship Wrestling as color commentator Cyrus.-Early life:...
. Watts then feuded with his on-screen girlfriend, Goldy Locks, throughout 2004. In late 2004, he feuded with Raven
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
, defeating him at Final Resolution
Final Resolution (2005)
Final Resolution was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on January 16, 2005 from the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the first annual event under the Final Resolution chronology...
on January 16, 2005 before leaving the promotion in February.
Other promotions
After leaving TNA, Watts began working primarily for the GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
-based Great Championship Wrestling promotion. He also appeared with AWA Superstars of Wrestling
AWA Superstars of Wrestling
Wrestling Superstars Live is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various championships. It was founded in 1996 by Dale Gagner and Jonnie Stewart.-History:...
, defeating Diamond Dallas Page
Diamond Dallas Page
Dallas Page , better known by his ring name "Diamond" Dallas Page , is an American retired professional wrestler, fitness instructor and actor...
for the vacant International Heavyweight Championship on February 4, 2005 in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
in a match refereed by Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
. The title was retired by the AWA Board of Directors later that year. In November 2009, Watts returned to Great Championship Wrestling, now based in Phenix City, Alabama
Phenix City, Alabama
Phenix City is a city and the county seat in Russell County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Portions of Lee County are addressed as Phenix City, 36870 ZIP code, for the sole purpose that Smiths Station does not have full incorporation to annex the area...
, to be the promotion's booker. He is also playing an authority role on their weekly live events.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Lights Out (STO)
- Signature moves
- Atomic drop
- Bridging cradle suplex
- ChokeslamChokeslamA chokeslam refers to a type of body slam in professional wrestling in which the wrestler grasps their opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerful on camera...
- Diving knee drop
- Double knee backbreaker
- DropkickDropkickA dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
- E-Bomb (Turnbuckle powerbomb)
- Elbow drop
- Modified dragon sleeper
- PowerslamPowerslamA powerslam is a professional wrestling body slam move in which the wrestler performing the slam falls face-down on top of his/her opponent. The use of the term "powerslam" usually refers to the front powerslam and the scoop powerslam.-Emerald Flowsion:...
- Spin-out powerbomb
- STF
- With TravisChad FortuneChad Fortune is a monster truck driver, former professional football player and former professional wrestler in both WWF and WCW.-Football career:Fortune played tight end at the University of Louisville from 1986-1989...
- Simultaneous vertical suplex / diving crossbody combination
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)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...
- Lou E. DangerouslyLou D'AngeliLou D'Angeli is a former professional wrestling manager and current Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas who is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a performer and promoter and World Wrestling Entertainment in marketing.-Sign Guy...
- Desire
- Goldy Locks
- Lou E. Dangerously
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "The Extreme Dream"
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- Brain StewBrain Stew/JadedVinyl Box Set-Other versions:"Brain Stew"* A live version featured on Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking. * Another live version on Bullet in a Bible....
by Green DayGreen DayGreen Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
(ECWExtreme Championship WrestlingExtreme 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...
) - Wattage by Dale OliverDale OliverDale Byron Oliver is an American music composer who works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Formerly a guitarist in BackHawk , Oliver serves mainly as a composer of theme music used in professional wrestling.-Music composer for TNA:Since 2003, Oliver writes, records, and produces music under...
(TNATotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
)
- Brain Stew
Championships and accomplishments
- AWA Superstars of WrestlingAWA Superstars of WrestlingWrestling Superstars Live is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various championships. It was founded in 1996 by Dale Gagner and Jonnie Stewart.-History:...
- AWA International Heavyweight ChampionshipAWA International Heavyweight ChampionshipThe AWA International Heavyweight Championship, originally known as the CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Championship was a major professional wrestling title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association...
(1 time)
- AWA International Heavyweight Championship
- Great Championship Wrestling
- GCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- GCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with John Bogie
- NWA Spinebuster
- NWA Spinebuster Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro 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 Rookie of the Year (1992)
- Turnbuckle Championship WrestlingTurnbuckle Championship WrestlingTurnbuckle Championship Wrestling was a Southeastern independent professional wrestling promotion based in Marietta, Georgia. It was founded by retired wrestler and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes in 2000 and, during its three years in operation, held events throughout the...
- TCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scotty AntonScott AntolScott Antol is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the ring names Scotty Riggs and Scotty Anton, respectively....
- TCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scotty Anton
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Most Overrated Wrestler (1992)
- Readers' Least Favorite Wrestler (1992)