Moose (wrestler)

For the female professional wrestler who also competed as Moose, see Mickie Knuckles.
Moose

Moose in January 2015
Birth name Quinn Ojinnaka[1]
Born (1984-04-23) April 23, 1984
Seabrook, Maryland,
United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Moose[1]
Moose Ojinnaka[1]
Quinn Ojinnaka[2]
Billed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1]
Billed weight 299 lb (136 kg)[1]
Billed from Atlanta, Georgia[1]
Washington, D.C.
Trained by Curtis Hughes[3]
ROH Wrestling Academy[2]
Debut 2012[2]

Quinn Ojinnaka (born April 23, 1984) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player, known by the ring name Moose.[4] He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is the Impact Grand Champion in his first reign. He has also worked for Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro Wrestling, EVOLVE Wrestling and WhatCulture Pro Wrestling. As an offensive lineman, he played college football at Syracuse and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He went on to play for the New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams, and Indianapolis Colts.

Early life

Ojinnaka was born in Seabrook, Maryland. He attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he earned All-Prince George County offensive lineman honors as a senior when his team had an 11–0 season that included the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship.

College career

Ojinnaka attended Syracuse University, where he played in 44 games with 23 starts in four years. In 2005, Ojinnaka started all 12 games as a junior. He was part of an offensive line that blocked for the first Syracuse duo to each run for 800 yards (Damien Rhodes and Walter Reyes) since 1979. The team allowed only 19 sacks, the second-fewest in the Big East Conference. In 2006, Ojinnaka played in the 2006 Las Vegas All-American Classic for the East squad after starting all 11 games as a senior.

Professional football career

Quinn Ojinnaka

refer to caption

Quinn Ojinnaka (center) with Jason Snelling and Ovie Mughelli in 2009
No. 76, 69
Position: Offensive tackle / guard
Personal information
Date of birth: (1984-04-23) April 23, 1984
Place of birth: Seabrook, Maryland
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight: 309 lb (140 kg)
Career information
College: Syracuse
NFL Draft: 2006 / Round: 5 / Pick: 139
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 62
Games started: 20
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Atlanta Falcons

Ojinnaka was selected in the fifth round (139th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. As a rookie in 2006, he played in 11 games. He saw playing time on special teams in Weeks 1–4 and 8–13. He played on the offensive line for the first time in his professional career when he replaced Wayne Gandy who had been injured against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2007, Ojinnaka played in 11 games, and had seven starts at left tackle. His first career NFL start at left tackle was against the San Francisco 49ers. He played in eight games in 2008. In 2009, he played in nine games, and started the final five games at right guard in place of an injured Harvey Dahl.

New England Patriots

On August 23, 2010, Ojinnaka was traded to the New England Patriots for a seventh round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. After serving his one-game suspension in Week 1, Ojinnaka was inactive for the team's next two games. He was released on September 30, 2010. The Patriots re-signed Ojinnaka on October 7, 2010. In total, he was active for eight games in 2010, all as a reserve.

St. Louis Rams

Ojinnaka signed with the St. Louis Rams on August 6, 2011. He was released on September 3.

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts signed Ojinnaka on October 5, 2011.

Second stint with Rams

Ojinnaka signed with the St. Louis Rams on March 22, 2012. He was waived on September 2, 2012.[5]

He was re-signed on September 12, 2012 when Scott Wells injured his foot and Robert Turner moved from left guard to center. However, he was released again on October 22, 2012.[6]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2012–2015)

Ojinnaka started his professional wrestling training in 2012 under Mr. Hughes at WWA4, and has attended WWE training camps.[7] On February 22, 2014, he made his debut for Dragon Gate USA, working alongside The Bravado Brothers in a bodyguard role.[7] On May 6, 2015, Global Force Wrestling (GFW) announced Ojinnaka as part of their roster.[8] Due to signing a new Ring of Honor (ROH) contract, Ojinnaka was only scheduled to work GFW's house shows and not television tapings.[9]

Ring of Honor (2014–2016)

After Ojinnaka appeared at ROH's Best in the World 2014 event on June 22, 2014, the promotion announced two days later that it had signed him to a contract.[10] Ojinnaka then adopted the ring name Moose and formed a partnership with R.D. Evans and Veda Scott.[11] On December 7, 2014, at Final Battle 2014, Moose, accompanied by Prince Nana and Stokely Hathaway, defeated R.D. Evans. On March 1, 2015, at ROH 13th Anniversary Show, Moose defeated Mark Briscoe in a singles match marking his first major win within Ring of Honor.[12] Moose's undefeated streak ended on May 16 at Global Wars '15, when he was defeated by Cedric Alexander.[13] On June 19 at Best in the World 2015, Moose's manager Veda Scott turned on him and formed a new partnership with Alexander. At the PPV, Moose lost a three-way match against Roderick Strong.[14] At Final Battle (2015) he lose against Michael Elgin. At Best in the World '16, Moose team with War Machine but lost against Bullet Club. Ojinnaka left ROH on July 8, 2016, with reports linking him to both WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).[15][16]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2016–present)

Moose made his TNA debut on the July 12, 2016 Destination X edition of Impact Wrestling, interrupting the main event match between TNA World Heavyweight Champion Lashley and TNA X Division Champion Eddie Edwards, aligning himself with Mike Bennett and Maria, establishing himself as a heel.[17] Ojinnaka reportedly had signed a two-year exclusive deal with the promotion.[18] On the July 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose made his in-ring debut, defeating indy wrestler David Starr.[19] On the August 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose and Mike Bennett defeated Eddie Edwards and Ethan Carter III. On the August 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose defeated Eddie Edwards.

On the August 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose participated in a Battle Royal for determine the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by Mike Bennett. On the September 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose refused to help Mike Bennett during his World Heavyweight Championship match against Lashley and attacked him after the match, dissolving their partnership and turning face in the process. Moose defeated Bennett at Bound for Glory on 2 October 2016. On the October 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, he defeated Ethan Carter III for having a match against Lashley for determine the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. However, on the October 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose was defeated by Lashley. On the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Moose was defeated by Mike Bennett by count-out, thus not qualified him for the four-way match the following week for determine the new contender number one at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Impact Grand Champion (2016-present)

On the 1st December of Impact Wrestling, Moose answered the Open Challenge of Aron Rex and defeated him for winning the Impact Grand Championship 1:45 in the first round.[20]

Personal life

On May 29, 2009, Ojinnaka was arrested for simple battery at his home in Suwanee, Georgia, after he fought with his wife and spat at her during an argument over a female friend of his on Facebook, according to a police report. He told police that his wife had tried to stab him with a pen, and she said he threw her on some stairs before tossing her out of the house.[21] He was later suspended by the NFL for the first game of the 2010 regular season.[22] Ojinnaka's wife divorced him after he announced his intention to leave the NFL and become a professional wrestler.[23]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "ROH profile". Archived from the original on 2016-03-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cagematch profile".
  3. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (2016-04-14). "Daily Update: Cauliflower Alley Club 2016; exit the Dragon". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  4. ↑ "Now a wrestler, Quinn Ojinnaka says NFL was just a job".
  5. ↑ Thomas, Jim (2012-09-01). "Rams claim 2; Hoomanawanui, Ojinnaka cut". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Jim (2012-10-22). "Updated: Rams cut Ojinnaka, sign ex-Bear Williams". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
  7. 1 2 Gee Schoon Tong, Chris (2014-02-23). "Radican's results - 2/22 DGUSA "Revolt!" in New York: Gargano defends DGUSA Title, Fox defends Evolve Title, former NFL player introduced, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Mike (2015-05-06). "Live notes from GFW press conference". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Mike (2015-05-19). "What Moose signing means for GFW, Taz talks with Lethal and more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  10. ↑ Caldwell, James (2014-06-24). "ROH news: Ring of Honor officially signs former NFL star". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  11. ↑ Gee Schoon Tong, Chris (2014-08-09). "ROH TV tapings 8-9 Philadelphia". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  12. ↑ "Ring of Honor 13th Anniversary PPV results".
  13. ↑ Burgess, Mike (May 17, 2015). "5/16 ROH Global Wars Night Two live report (TV taping spoilers)". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 "It's a grudge match at DBD XIII". Ring of Honor. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Mike (July 9, 2016). "Moose says farewell to ROH". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  16. ↑ Currier, Joseph (July 9, 2016). "Moose tweets goodbye to ROH, pulls out of August indie date". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  17. ↑ Currier, Joseph (2016-07-12). "Interesting name debuts at TNA Impact tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  18. ↑ "PWTorch Report – Details on Moose's new TNA contract". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2016-07-12. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  19. ↑ "TNA Impact Results, Live Blog (July 28, 2016): Broken Matt Hardy vs. EC3!". Cageside Seats. 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
  20. ↑ "Csonka's TNA Impact Review 12.01.16". 411 Mania. 411 Maniadate=2016-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  21. ↑ Morris, Mike and Kent A. Miles (2009-05-29). "Falcons' Ojinnaka arrested over Facebook fracas". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  22. ↑ "OL suspended over fracas with wife". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  23. ↑ Hale, Andreas (2016-03-30). "How an ex-NFL player is on the verge of becoming a wrestling superstar". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  24. ↑ https://twitter.com/MooseNation69/status/753081776663322628?lang=en
  25. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/BHzSJ1lhcWk/
  26. 1 2 "RING OF HONOR TELEVISION REPORT: WHO FACES reDRagon AT FIELD OF HONOR?; MOOSE MAKES HIS SINGLES DEBUT; TAG CHAMPS IN ACTION By Richard Trionfo".
  27. ↑ jshannon (2016-05-04). "WHAT HAPPENED, THIS WEEK, @ RING OF HONOR TV". 1Wrestling. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  28. ↑ Hirsh, Andrew (2015-11-10). "FORMER FALCON OJINNAKA FLOURISHING AS PRO WRESTLER". AtlantaFalcons.com. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  29. 1 2 "RING OF HONOR TELEVISION REPORT: THE KRD IS REVEALED, TAG TITLE MATCH, FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL, AND MORE By Richard Trionfo".
  30. ↑ "Bust Some Heads - Single".
  31. ↑ "SCW Florida Heavyweight Championship history".
  32. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  33. ↑ "PWX Innovative Television Championship history".
  34. 1 2 "Rhymer Cup Main Event".

External links


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