 | Real Name: | Steve Lombardi |
| Height: | 6' 2" | |
| Weight: | 286 | |
| From: | Bronx, NY | |
| Signature Moves: | Lariat, back suplex, piledriver | |
| A.K.A | Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz, Kim Chee, Doink | |
| Titles Held | BCW Unified Television Title
BCW Heavyweight Championship NWA Michigan Heavyweight Championship |
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Steve Lombardi holds the honour of being WWE's longest serving active wrestler. He made his debut in 1985 and continues to wrestle today, even if only sparingly at house shows.
He started off wrestling as plain old Steve Lombardi and was used mainly as a jobber to the stars in tag team and singles competition. His first major angle came in 1989. The Red Rooster turned face and left Bobby "The Brain" Heenans Family. Heenan boasted that Rooster only became a star because of his assosciation with him and that he could turn anybody into a star. This led to Lombardi being recruited into Heenan's family and being renamed The Brooklyn Brawler. He and The Red Rooster feuded for a couple of months but unfortunately the feud never really surpassed midcard status and neither man was significantly elevated as a result of it. Nevertheless The Brooklyn Brawler was born.
The Brawler was a staple of WWF TV in the early to mid 90's until WWF upgraded their product by eliminating preliminary matches. The Brawler was for the most part relegated to house shows and dark matches at TV tapings. In 1992 Lombardi appeared on WWF TV as Kim Chee, the masked trainer of "The Ugandan Giant" Kamala. In late '93 - early '94 Lombardi competed as Doink, the once evil clown who had just turned face. He was often accompanied to the ring with a mini version of himself called Dink. In '94 Lombardi was given the role of Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz who was also calld MVP. The carachter was supposed to be a digruntled baseball player who had nowhere else to go since the Baseball League was on strike. He would use baseball mannerisms in his matches such as kicking (imaginary) dust at the referee. He was also seen sitting around arenas holding an "On Strike" sign at the time. On 04/03/98 in La Salle, Ontario, Canada The Brawler won his first ever title defeating Bobby Clancey for the vacant BCW Unified Television Title. To this day Brawler still holds this title. It is however semi-retired. On 20/06/98 Brawler defeated two time champion Gene Austin for the NWA Michigan Heavyweight Championship in Tecumseh, MI . He held the belt until dropping it to Skull Ganz in Brownstone, MI on 27/12/98. On 15/01/03 at BCW's New Year Revolution, held at The Ciociaro Club in Oldcastle, Ontario, Canada, Brawler won the BCW Heavyweight Title defeating Johnny Swinger in an impromptu matchup. The Brawler however was stripped of the title afterwards as Swinger's lawyers argued that Brawler was not registered as a wrestler with the company at the time. The Brawlers name has been dropped on some high profile spots on WWF TV in recent years. In 1998 at the Fully Loaded PPV Vince McMahon announced that The Brooklyn Brawler would replace the absent Undertaker as Stone Cold Steve Austin's partner in the main event. The Undertaker eventually showed up however and took his place alongside Austin for the match. In late October 2000 on an episode of Smackdown, Kurt Angle announced he would defend his title against The Brooklyn Brawler. However, a more dangerous opponent was found for Angle in the form of the human suplex machine, Tazz. Brawler has had many memorable moments in his career. He appeared at Wrestlemania V when he accompanied his manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to the ring for his match against The Red Rooster. And competed as Kim Chee in the gimmick battle royale at WM X7. His fondest memory is probably facing off against Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship in Madison Square Garden in 1997. The Brawler had earlier won a battle royale earning the title shot. They faced off on 22/09/97 with HBK defeating The Brawler to retain. He was the man who The Rock faced in his very first match in the WWF. Brawler showed just what a professional he is by allowing The Rock to win. He holds a pinfall victory over HHH. On 06/07/00 on an episode of Smackdown Commissioner Mick Foley put HHH in a handicap match vs Kaientai (Taka and Funaki) and The Brooklyn Brawler. HHH eliminated both members of Kaientai to make the match one on one. Unfortunately for The Game, Chris Jericho interfered and allowed The Brawler to score the pinfall. |
