Keith Walker
Encyclopedia
Keith Walker is an American professional wrestler who competes in North American and international promotions including Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...

, Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...

's World League Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah
Pro Wrestling Noah
is a major Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling ace Mitsuharu Misawa. NOAH is broadcast weekly in Japan...

.

In November 2006, he signed a 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...

 developmental contract and assigned to Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling
Championship Wrestling from Florida was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling...

 before being released from his contract the next year. Since then, he and Rasche Brown have been competing as the SkullKrushers, and currently hold the record for the longest reign as NWA World Tag Team Champions
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:...

.

Early life and career

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Walker was a wrestling fan as a child and whose favorite wrestlers included Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

, Ric Flair
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 The Road Warriors (Hawk
Road Warrior Hawk
Michael James Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as the Road Warriors or The Legion of Doom , with Road Warrior Animal.-Early life:While living in Chicago, Hegstrand met Joe Lauranaitis, who would be later...

 and Animal
Road Warrior Animal
Joseph Aaron "Joe" Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior...

). He also often went to events at the Rosemont Horizon
Allstate Arena
Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in Rosemont, Illinois.It is home to the Chicago Rush, of the Arena Football League, DePaul University's men's basketball team, the Chicago Wolves, of the AHL, and the Chicago Sky, of the WNBA.It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and...

. Attending North Park University
North Park University
North Park University is a four-year university located at 3225 W. Foster Avenue on the north side of Chicago, Illinois in the North Park neighborhood. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church and shares its campus with the denomination's only seminary...

, Walker graduated with a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 and a degree in exercise physiology
Exercise physiology
Exercise physiology is the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to a wide-range of physical exercise conditions. In addition, many exercise physiologists study the effect of exercise on pathology, and the mechanisms by which exercise can reduce or reverse disease progression...

 as well as having an athletic career competing in college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

, baseball
College baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...

 and wrestling. He also competed in amateur bodybuilding
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

 during college, winning second place in the 2002 and 2003 Mr. Illinois competition.

In 2003, he began training to become a professional wrestler. His trainer Eric Priest was himself trained by independent wrestlers Danny Dominion and Ace Steel
Ace Steel
Chris Guy is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Ace Steel. He is perhaps best known for his time with Ring of Honor and occasional appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment, as well as his stint with its Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory...

. Prior to his debut, he had a brief stint with the National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL...

 playing for the Myrtle Beach Stingrays. Following his debut, Walker wrestled throughout the United States both under his real name and as Mike Venom, winning numerous championship titles on the independent circuit
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...

 as well as facing his boyhood idols The Road Warriors in several tag team matches.

World League Wrestling

Walker joined World League Wrestling soon after his debut and took part in the Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...

-Pro Wrestling Noah
Pro Wrestling Noah
is a major Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling ace Mitsuharu Misawa. NOAH is broadcast weekly in Japan...

 training camp during 2005 and 2006. On September 24, 2005, Walker scored one of his first major victories defeating Kenny Omega, later aired by Pro Wrestling Noah on Japanese television, and feuded with WLW Heavyweight Champion "Wild" Wade Chism. At the end of the year, he lost to Chism in a three-way mach with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake on December 10, 2005. The following month, the title was held up, in part to interference by the villainous
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...

 referee Trevor Murdoch, during a match between the two in Eldon, Missouri
Eldon, Missouri
Eldon is a city in Miller County, Missouri, United States. It is thirty miles southwest from Jefferson City. The population was 4,895 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Eldon is located at...

 on January 28, 2006. On February 24, Walker lost a 3-way dance when Jason Bates was pinned by Chism in St. Joseph. The next night however, Walker was pinned by Bates in a second 3-way dance with Chism to win the title.

Walker also toured Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah in April. A month later, with manager Johnny Gold, he defeated Wade Chism for the WLW Heavyweight Championship in St. Joseph on May 13 although he lost it back to Chism two days later. In mid-June, he teamed with Shane Hagadorn against Irish Airborne (Jake and David Crist) and defeated Bobby Dempsey and C.J. Otis in a three-way match in back-to-back appearances for Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...

.

On November 2, Walker was signed to a developmental contract 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...

 and left the promotion. He did, however, continue to make appearances with other independent promotions during the next week. On November 4, he lost to Tyler Black
Tyler Black
Colby Lopez is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tyler Black. He is signed to a contract with WWE, where he competes in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling as Seth Rollins. He is a former FCW 15 Champion and FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with...

 at a show for AAW in Berwyn, Illinois
Berwyn, Illinois
Berwyn is a city in Cook County, Illinois, co-existent with Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,016.-Demographics:...

 and, less than a week later, he and Egotistico Fantastico
Robert Anthony
Robert Anthony is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Egotistico Fantastico. He currently performs for various independent promotions, most notably Combat Zone Wrestling where he is a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion, as well as a former World Junior Heavyweight...

 defeated Matt Longtime and Mickey McCoy at a Brew City Wrestling card.

Deep South Wrestling

A month after signing with WWE, Walker was assigned to its developmental territory Deep South Wrestling. On December 21, he made his debut losing to Jake Hager
Jake Hager
Jacob "Jake" Hager, Jr. is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he works under the ring name Jack Swagger on the Raw brand....

 in a dark match. Early the next year, he wrestled as Keith Samson Walker against Kofi Nahaje Kingston
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom...

 and, the next week, under the name Keith Samson when he defeated Robert Anthony
Robert Anthony
Robert Anthony is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Egotistico Fantastico. He currently performs for various independent promotions, most notably Combat Zone Wrestling where he is a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion, as well as a former World Junior Heavyweight...

 in a dark match on January 11, 2007. He would alternately use both names during his time with DSW and teamed with Johnny Curtis losing to The Major Brothers
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder were a American professional wrestling tag team who appeared on the independent circuit and WWE under a variety of evolving names....

 and Henry Godwinn and Ray Gordy
Ray Gordy
Terry Ray Gordy, Jr. is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment appearing on its SmackDown brand under the ring names Jesse and Slam Master J...

. On March 1, he defeated Ray Gordy and, with Frankie Coverdale, lost a tag team match to Robert Anthony and Johnny Curtis later that night in what turned out to be his last appearance with the promotion.

Florida Championship Wrestling

Two months later, he was assigned to another WWE developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling
Championship Wrestling from Florida was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling...

, making his debut in a tag team match with Rycklon Stephens
Rycklon Stephens
Rycklon Stephens is a Guyanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Ezekiel Jackson, where he was WWE Intercontinental Champion and a one time world champion, having won the ECW Championship, and is recognized by WWE as the...

 to defeat Eric Perez
Eric Perez
Eric Alexander Pérez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler who currently performs under the ring name Eric Escobar. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment , where he spent most of his career in developmental territories...

 and Kofi Nahaje Kingston on June 26, 2007. They also defeated Team Elite (Mike Knox
Mike Knox
Michael Shawn Hettinga is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment as Mike Knox. He is also an avid fisherman, and fishes in his spare time.-Independent circuit :...

 and Derrick Neikirk) that same week.

On August 4, he and Heath Miller
Heath Miller
Earl Heath Miller, Jr. is an American football tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. He was selected as the 30th overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Virginia.-Early years:...

 lost to Jake Hager
Jake Hager
Jacob "Jake" Hager, Jr. is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he works under the ring name Jack Swagger on the Raw brand....

 and Ted DiBiase, Jr.
Ted DiBiase, Jr.
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase Jr. is an American professional wrestler and actor signed with WWE, where he appears on its SmackDown brand...

 The next month, he defeated Hager and Neikirk in a three-way match on September 2. On September 15, he and Shawn Osborne lost to Egotistico Fantastico and Johnny Curtis. After another defeat by Ted DiBiase, Jr. on October 2, Walker was released from his WWE contract due to a "lack of progress".

Return to WLW

On October 27, Walker made his return to World League Wrestling defeating Derek McQuinn for the WLW Heavyweight title in Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...

. On November 9, Walker also defeated Dinn T. More for the AWA-Brew City Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. The next night at the NWA Pro Wrestling Summit in Hammond, Indiana
Hammond, Indiana
Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 80,830 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hammond is located at ....

, Walker lost to Misterioso
Misterioso (wrestler)
Roberto Castillo is a Mexican-American Luchador or professional wrestler currently working on the independent circuit in Mexico and Southern California under the ring name Misterioso...

. On November 24, he lost to AAW Heavyweight Champion Jerry Lynn
Jerry Lynn
Jeremy "Jerry" Lynn is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

 at an All American Wrestling event. He also teamed with Dan Lawrence to defeat Derek St. Holmes, Kris Hybrid and Bonebreaker Brooks on December 15, 2007.

National Wrestling Alliance and AWA Superstars of Wrestling / Wrestling Superstars Live

At an event for Brew City Wrestling, he and Skullkrusher fought to a double-countout on January 12, 2008. He lost the WLW Heavyweight title a little over three months later to "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters on February 9 in Fordland, Missouri
Fordland, Missouri
Fordland is a city in Webster County, Missouri, United States. The population was 762 at the 2009 census. It is part of the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Fordland is located at ....

. On March 29, Walker lost to reigning AWA Superstars of Wrestling United States Championship Ricky Landell
Ricky Landell
Ricky Landell is an American former professional wrestler. He is best known for competing in various independent promotions, the most notable being Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX / Pro Wrestling Zero1 and AWA Superstars of Wrestling / Wrestling Superstars Live.-Debut :After training under...

 in an "MMA vs. Wrestling" match to crown the first WSL Fighting World Champion. Following this match, the United States title was abandoned. He later teamed up with Rasche Brown, formerly known as Skullkrusher, to form the Skullkrushers. On October 4, the Skullkrushers defeated Los Luchas to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship
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:...

. Walker again defeated Landell on February 21, 2009 in Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City, Indiana
Michigan City's origins date to 1830, when the land for the city was first purchased by Isaac C. Elston. Elston Middle School, formerly Elston High School, located at 317 Detroit St., is named after the founder....

 to win the Wrestling Superstars Live World Heavyweight Championship. On November 20, 2010, Walker and Brown lost the NWA World Tag Team Championship to the Dark City Fight Club (Kory Chavis
Kory Chavis
Kory Chavis is a professional wrestler, also known by the ring name Rainman. He currently works for several independent promotions, including Dragon Gate USA, Full Impact Pro, and Evolve.- Professional wrestling career :...

 and Jon Davis
Jon Davis (wrestler)
Jon Davis is an American professional wrestler, working for independent promotions including Dragon Gate USA, Full Impact Pro, and Evolve.- Professional wrestling career :...

), ending their reign at 778 days.

Pro Wrestling Noah

On April 14, 2010 the team of Keith Walker and Bison Smith
Bison Smith
Mark Smith was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bison Smith. He best known for his appearances with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan and International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico...

 defeated Takeshi Rikio
Takeshi Rikio
Takeshi Inoue, known by his stage name , born December 20, 1972, is a Japanese professional wrestler, who works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler.- Sumo career :...

 and Muhammad Yone to become the GHC Tag Team Champions
GHC Tag Team Championship
The Global Honored Crown Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tournament final...

 in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. On August 31, however, Walker's father died. He later chose not to immediately return to Japan, and on September 10 he and Bison Smith were stripped of the GHC Tag Team Championship.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
  • Swinging side slam

  • 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...

  • Dave Prazak
    Dave Prazak
    Dave Prazak is a professional wrestling manager and commentator. He works for many independent wrestling promotions in America. He is the founder of the all female wrestling promotion Shimmer Women Athletes.-Managing:...


  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A 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
  • "Big"
  • "The Human Massacre"

Championships and accomplishments

  • AWA-Brew City Wrestling
  • AWA-Brew Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

  • National Wrestling Alliance
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

  • NWA World Tag Team Championship
    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:...

     (1 time) - with Rasche Brown

  • Pro Wrestling Epic
    • PWE 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 #241 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011

  • Pro Wrestling Noah
    Pro Wrestling Noah
    is a major Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling ace Mitsuharu Misawa. NOAH is broadcast weekly in Japan...

    • GHC Tag Team Championship
      GHC Tag Team Championship
      The Global Honored Crown Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tournament final...

       (1 time) - with Bison Smith
      Bison Smith
      Mark Smith was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bison Smith. He best known for his appearances with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan and International Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico...


  • World League Wrestling
    Harley Race's Wrestling Academy
    Harley Race's Wrestling Academy is a professional wrestling school located in Eldon, Missouri. It was established in 1999 by former World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. Students of the school are incorporated into the professional wrestling promotion World League Wrestling.-School:The Harley...

  • WLW Heavyweight Championship
    WLW Heavyweight Championship
    The World League Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, is the top title contested for the independent professional wrestling promotion World League Wrestling. The current champion is Trevor Murdoch, who in his fourth reign...

     (2 times)

  • Wrestling Superstars Live
  • WSL Fighting World Championship (1 time, current)
  • WSL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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