Al Green (wrestler)

Not to be confused with Al Denney, who wrestled under the name "Al Greene" in the 1960s and 1970s.
Al Green
Birth name Alfred Dobalo
Born (1955-10-15)October 15, 1955[1]
Died June 14, 2013(2013-06-14) (aged 57)[2]
Residence Tampa, Florida[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Al Green
Al Knitti
Big Al Green[3]
Blade[3]
Bounty Hunter #1
The Dog[3]
Rage
Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[3]
Billed weight 280 lb (130 kg)[3]
Billed from Tampa, Florida[3]
Trained by Steve Keirn[3]
Debut 1990

Alfred Dobalo[1][4] (October 15, 1955 – June 14, 2013),[1][2] best known by his ring name Al Green, was an American professional wrestler who performed in North America, Europe, and Japan under a variety of gimmicks, including Rage one half of the team The Wrecking Crew with Fury (Marc Laurinaitis), Blade one half of the Master Blasters with Steel (Kevin Nash) and the Dog in World Championship Wrestling at the turn of the millennium.[3]

Career

Green was trained for a professional wrestling career by Steve Keirn, making his debut in 1990 as "Blade", one half of "The Master Blasters" tag team alongside Kevin Nash.

The Master Blasters

On September 22, 1991 Blade was a replacement for "Iron", who left World Championship Wrestling after only one match. The reconstituted Master Blasters continued their undefeated streak in October. Meanwhile, Kevin Nash would have his first singles match on September 28, defeating Tom Zenk in Baltimore, MD.[5] At Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1990 in Chicago, IL the Blasters upended The Southern Boys and began to move up the WCW tag-team ratings. However their winning streak would finally come to an end on November 22 at the Omni in Atlanta, GA when Tom Zenk & Brian Pillman handed them their first defeat (Pillman pinning Blade). They rebounded to go on another undefeated streak, defeating The Southern Boys as well as Alan Iron Eagle & Tim Horner and earning a US Tag-Team title shot against the champions The Steiner Brothers. The Steiners however were victorious in matches on December 25 (Atlanta, GA and December 26th (Nashville, TN).[5]

They were pinned as well on television in 52 seconds by the Steiners in a match that aired on WCW Worldwide in February 2, 1991. Following this loss their momentum began to dissipate as the Blasters would suffer followup losses to the Southern Boys and Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich. The team disbanded at the end of the month, with Kevin Nash briefly continuing to wrestle simply as "The Master Blaster" until being given the new gimmick of "Oz" in May 1991. Meanwhile, Green would leave WCW to compete for Florida Championship Wrestling in The Bounty Hunters tag team as "Bounty Hunter #1". The team won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship in November, but when Green's partner (Tim Parker) was injured, The Terminator stepped in and defended the tag team titles with Green. The team held the gold until the Nasty Boys beat them on a card in Nassau, Bahamas on January 6, 1991.[6]

The Wrecking Crew

While the team with The Terminator was a makeshift team at first, but they began teaming regularly first under the name The Terminators then later on as The Wrecking Crew where the Terminator became known as "Fury" and Al was renamed Rage. The team competed for the International Wrestling Federation based in Florida showing themselves to be a force in the tag team division. On May 28, 1992 the duo beat IWF Tag Team Champions The Long Riders (Brett Colt and Kip Winchester).[6]

By late 1992 the Wrecking Crew got signed by World Championship Wrestling, making their debut in January 1993.[7] Shortly after their debut the Wrecking Crew got national exposure by competing at Clash of the Champions XXII on January 13 where they defeated Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn.[8]

After their success at the clash the team rode on a wave of success defeating Gunn and Zenk repeatedly,[9][10] as well as looking impressive against temporary teams such as 2 Cold Scorpio and Johnny B. Badd,[11] and Marcus Bagwell and Joey Maggs.[12]

By March the team was contesting a series of matches with future WCW World Tag Team Champions 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell[13] as well as feuding with the identical twin duo known as The Cole Twins (Keith and Kent Cole).[14] The feud with the Cole Twins was soon expanded to also include Bagwell and Scorpio as well as Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce.[15] As the feud wore on the Cole Twins got the upper hand in the feud over the two big men.[16] The Wrecking Crew also faced Cactus Jack and The Barbarian in a series of house show matches.[17]

As Summer turned to fall the Wrecking Crew’s time with WCW ended, returning to the independent scene. In 1994 the Wrecking Crew traveled to Europe to work for Otto Wanz’ Catch Wrestling Association. On July 24 they defeated David Finlay and John Hawk in the finals of a tournament to crown new CWA Tag Team Champions after Larry Cameron had died during a match.[6] Fury and Rage held the belts for only 3 weeks before being unseated by CWA regulars August Smisl and Ulf Herman in Vienna, Austria.[6]

In 1995 the Wrecking Crew tourned with All Japan Pro Wrestling over the summer being put over young teams like Kentaro Shiga and Mannukea Mossman.[18] The highlight of their summer tour was a clash with multiple time All Asia Tag Team Champions Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat which the Wrecking Crew lost.[19]

Return to WCW

Green performed in WCW during the late 1990s, mainly on low level programs like WCW Saturday Night. While doing guest commentary, Kevin Nash made reference to Green being a former tag team partner of his (also making a pun of his name, relating to the more famous singer Al Green). In 2000, he was repackaged as The Dog when he formed a hardcore tag team managed by Fit Finlay with former Nasty Boy Brian Knobs. Green's mannerisms in this gimmick were those of a stereotypical attack dog and would have habits not unlike dogs, including drinking from the toilet. He was a last minute replacement in their group for Sabu, who couldn't start for WCW due to contract issues. Upon the acquisition of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation in early 2001, Green's contract was one of the assets not taken.

Other appearances

Al Green's last television appearances were as a guest on the reality shows Hogan Knows Best and Brooke Knows Best on VH1.

Death

Green died on June 14, 2013 at the age of 57. He had been suffering from COPD for some time before his death.[20]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Intelius People Search Report". Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 "FORMER WCW WRESTLER AL "THE DOG" GREEN PASSES AWAY".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Al Green profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  4. ↑ Zucco, Tom (1998-11-01). "An Amazon is born". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
  5. 1 2 http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw90.htm
  6. 1 2 3 4 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  7. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". January 1993. (shown on WCW World Wide January 16) The Wrecking Crew defeated Joey Maggs & Johnny Rich at 4:24 when Rage pinned Maggs following an overhead backbreaker / elbow off the top double team
  8. ↑ "WCW Clash of the Champions Results (XXII)". prowrestlinghistory.com. January 13, 1993. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26.
  9. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". February 2, 1993. (shown on WCW Saturday Night on February 20) The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk
  10. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". February 19, 1993. The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk
  11. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". January 24, 1993. 2 Cold Scorpio & Johnny B. Badd fought the Wrecking Crew to a draw
  12. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". January 28, 1993. The Wrecking Crew defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Joey Maggs
  13. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". March 3, 1993. 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated the Wrecking Crew
  14. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". March 8, 1993. (shown on WCW Saturday Night on March 13) Keith & Kent Cole defeated Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce when Pierce was pinned following a double dropkick at around the 3:30 mark; after the bout, the Coles avoided an attack from the Wrecking Crew, Tex & Shanghai
  15. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". April 27, 1993. (shown on WCW Saturday Night on May 1) The Wrecking Crew, Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce defeated 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Keith & Kent Cole via disqualification
  16. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". May 2, 1993. Keith & Kent Cole defeated the Wrecking Crew
  17. ↑ "WCW Show Results 1993". April 2, 1993. Cactus Jack & the Barbarian defeated the Wrecking Crew when Cactus pinned Rage
  18. ↑ "AJPW Budokan Hall Show Results (1991–1995)". March 4, 1995. The Wrecking Crew beat Kentaro Shiga & Maunukea Mossman (7:41)
  19. ↑ "AJPW Budokan Hall Show Results (1991–1995)". July 24, 1995. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas beat The Wrecking Crew (10:49)
  20. ↑ http://www.pwinsider.com/article/78257/former-wcw-wrestler-al-the-dog-green-passes-away.html?p=1

External links

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