Juggernaut (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Craig Renney is a Canadian 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...

 best known by his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

, Juggernaut. He has competed for several North American independent promotions and has competed in several wrestling tours in Asia. He also had a brief stint in 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...

 (WCW) in 2000.

Juggernaut is known both for his brawling and aerial abilities as well as his martial arts skills. He has competed against some of the most famous wrestlers in the business. His greatest success came in ECCW, where he had a long rivalry with Kurrgan
Robert Maillet
Robert Maillet is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation, as a member of the Truth Commission and the Oddities, wrestling under the name Kurrgan....

 and won the NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship
NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship
The NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship is the top singles championship in NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling...

 on six occasions. Juggernaut announced his retirement in 2007, as he wanted to quit wrestling while he was still healthy.

Early career

Renney grew up in Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook, British Columbia is a city in southeast British Columbia, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River, It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2006, Cranbrook's population is 18,267, and the...

 and became interested in wrestling at age seven while watching a televised match between Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...

 and Gorilla Monsoon
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play announcer, and booker...

. He gained combat sport
Combat sport
A Combat sport, also known as a Fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement , typically with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat...

 experience by earning black belts
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...

 in both judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

 and jujutsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....

, and he moved to Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

 to train as a wrestler. He made his debut in Edmonton and wrestled in several matches there before moving to Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

. Starting out, he wrestled for Independent Pro Wrestling, making $30 per match or less and sometimes competing in exchange for food and drinks. Juggernaut became known for his hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...

 abilities, but he also impressed observers with his ability to perform a moonsault
Moonsault
A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique. Much of its popularity in American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta, despite it being used in North America by "Leaping" Lanny Poffo years before Muta came from Japan.In a standard moonsault,...

.

Independent circuit

The following year, he wrestled against Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...

 at the Washington State Fair in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

. He continued to compete in various independent promotions
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...

, facing such veterans as Greg Valentine
Greg Valentine
John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:...

, Jim Neidhart
Jim Neidhart
James Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...

, and The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that also competed as The Sheepherders during their long career. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions as well as a nearly 40 year run on the independent wrestling circuit...

. At an event in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, he worked in a booked loss to The Honky Tonk Man
The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris , better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. A 1975 graduate from University of Memphis with a B.S. degree in Education. Coached high school football 2 seasons at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee...

. Juggernaut began competing regularly with Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling is a Western Canadian-based professional wrestling promotion, operating as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance...

 in 1999 and formed a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with Biohazard known as Toxic Insanity. They won the NWA/ECCW Tag Team Championship on March 26, 1999 by defeating Michelle Starr and Johnny Canuck. Two months later, they also won the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship
NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship
The NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship is an National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned tag team professional wrestling championship based mainly in the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling promotion, although the title has been contested for in the Canadian Wrestling Federation, NWA Green Mountain...

. They defended both belts until they dropped the Canadian Tag Team Championship on July 22. They regained the title two days later but were stripped of all of their belts that August. Juggernaut held the NWA/ECCW Tag Team Championship once more, winning the belts with Dr. Luther on March 31, 2000 but losing them the same night.

During this time, Juggernaut also competed as a singles wrestler. On September 12, 1999, he defeated Michelle Starr to win the NWA/ECCW Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship
The NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship is the top singles championship in NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling...

. The following month, he dropped the belt to Johnny Canuck in a three way match. He regained the belt in a rematch but was stripped of the title in December. A tournament was held for the vacant championship, which Juggernaut won to regain the title. He then became involved in a feud
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 Kurrgan
Robert Maillet
Robert Maillet is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation, as a member of the Truth Commission and the Oddities, wrestling under the name Kurrgan....

, and the two traded the belt back and forth. Kurrgan beat Juggernaut for the title on February 25, 2000, but Juggernaut won it back two months later. He held the belt for a day before dropping it back to Kurrgan. When Kurrgan was stripped of the title for being unable to compete at a show in July, Juggernaut won the vacant championship by defeating Leatherface (Rick Patterson). At Juggernaut's request, the match was a two out of three falls tables match. During the match, he was legitimately unable to move for several minutes and suffered memory loss after Leatherface hit him with a chair.

Wrestling overseas and return to North America

In 2000, Juggernaut began touring Asia as a wrestler. He competed in Korea for the World Wrestling Association. Two weeks after returning to Canada, he accepted an invitation from the International Wrestling Association of Japan
International Wrestling Association of Japan
International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 1996....

 (IWA Japan). While in Japan, he achieved his dream of wrestling in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

's Korakuen Hall
Korakuen Hall
is an arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted many boxing, professional wrestling and mixed martial arts matches. Part of Tokyo Dome City, it is one of Tokyo's biggest attractions. It opened on April 16, 1962 and has a capacity of approximately 1,800 people. The venue hosted the boxing...

. Three months later, 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...

 was taping WCW Thunder
WCW Thunder
WCW Thunder was a professional wrestling show produced by World Championship Wrestling which aired on TBS from January 8, 1998 to March 21, 2001...

 in Kelowna, British Columbia
Kelowna, British Columbia
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...

 and recruited Juggernaut and three other local wrestlers for a match. They faced KroniK
KroniK
KroniK was an American professional wrestling tag team composed of Brian Adams and Bryan Clark. Their name was based on the word "chronic", a slang term for marijuana.-World Championship Wrestling :...

 in a handicap match with a two-minute time limit. KroniK won the match in one minute and forty-nine seconds, pinning Juggernaut after performing the High Times.

Returning to ECCW, Juggernaut defeated Moondog Manson on February 9, 2001 to win the ECCW Hardcore Championship. He held the title for almost four months before dropping it to Lumberjack Bubba. He began competing for several other independent promotions, including Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

-based Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...

. In 2002, he defeated former Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme 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...

 World Heavyweight Champion Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

. In 2005, he won his sixth and final NWA/ECCW Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship by defeating Scotty Mac. He held the belt until January 27, 2006, when he dropped it to Sweet Daddy Devastation. Later that year, he teamed with TJ Wilson to win the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship
The Stampede International Tag Team Championship is the main tag-team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag-Team Championship...

. They did not lose the belts, but they were forced to vacate the title when Wilson left the promotion to sign with World Wrestling Entertainment
World 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...

. Meanwhile, he continued to wrestle overseas, competing in such countries as India, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Malaysia, and Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

.

Retirement

In 2007, Juggernaut announced his intention to retire from professional wrestling. Although he was healthy, he decided to retire before he suffered any injuries that would hurt him in his future life outside the ring. On his website, he posted a list of the ten wrestlers he wished to face before retiring. The list includes such wrestlers as Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....

, Aaron Idol
Aaron Idol
Aaron Idol is a Canadian professional wrestler who is best known for his work in Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling where he rose to become the ECCW Heavyweight Champion.-Training:...

, Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand as Daniel Bryan, and currently holds the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase, which enables him to have a World Heavyweight Championship match at any time of his choosing...

, and Steve Corino
Steve Corino
Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino is a Canadian professional wrestler, who currently works for Pro Wrestling Zero1, Ring of Honor and numerous other independent promotions. Corino is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and ECW World Heavyweight Champion.-Early years :Corino began wrestling in 1994...

.

Juggernaut has since returned to wrestling on a limited basis. He appeared at an ECCW show in November 2009, attacking Azeem The Dream. On January 29, 2010, he competed in his first match since retirement. He wrestled a triple threat match against Sid Sylum and Scotty Mac in which Scotty Mac retained the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship
NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title in Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1978 until 1984, when it was abandoned after the Toronto promotion partnered with the WWF. The title was reinstated as the present-day, NWA Board-controlled version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight...

.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Spinning side slam

  • Signature moves
    • Diving leg drop
    • Gory special
    • High–angle belly to back suplex
    • Northern lights suplex
    • Over the shoulder arm drag
    • Spinning spinebuster
    • Sunset flip powerbomb

  • Managers
    Manager (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...

    • Miss Cheyenne
    • Bill "Big Thrilla" Flesher
    • Princess Lily

Championships and accomplishments

  • New Pro Wrestling America
  • New Pro Wrestling America Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

  • NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
    NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
    Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling is a Western Canadian-based professional wrestling promotion, operating as a member of the National Wrestling Alliance...

  • NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship
    NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship is an National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned tag team professional wrestling championship based mainly in the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling promotion, although the title has been contested for in the Canadian Wrestling Federation, NWA Green Mountain...

     (2 times) – with Biohazard
  • NWA/ECCW Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • NWA/ECCW Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
    NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship
    The NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship is the top singles championship in NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling...

     (6 times)
  • NWA/ECCW Tag Team Championship
    NWA/ECCW Tag Team Championship
    The NWA/ECCW Tag Team Championship is the tag team title for the NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling wrestling promotion based out of British Columbia. It was activated in 1996. The first champions were the Glamour Order Of Discipline...

     (2 times) – with Biohazard (1) and Dr. Luther (1)

  • Prairie Wrestling Alliance
    Prairie Wrestling Alliance
    The Prairie Wrestling Alliance is an independent wrestling promotion based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, since 2001. The PWA is owned, operated, and promoted by Kurt Sorochan and Don Ferguson. Its head booker is Lance Storm.-History:...

  • Prairie Wrestling Alliance Mayhem Championship (1 time)
  • Prairie Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tex Gaines

  • Premier Championship Wrestling
  • Premier Championship Wrestling Xtreme Championship (1 time)

  • Premier Wrestling Federation
  • Premier Wrestling Federation Extreme Championship (1 time)

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    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 ranked him #292 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2005

  • Stampede Wrestling
    Stampede Wrestling
    Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...

  • Stampede International Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with TJ Wilson

  • The Future of Wrestling
  • TFW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • TFW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Adam Firestorm
    Adam Firestorm
    Adam T. Dykes was a New Zealand-Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ring name Adam Firestorm, who competed in North American independent promotions in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada during the late 1990s and early 2000s, most notably as a mainstay of Extreme Canadian...


  • Western Canadian Extreme Wrestling
  • WCEW Extreme Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dr. Luther

External links

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