Craig Pittman

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For the American journalist and author, see Craig Pittman (writer). For the Alabama judge, see Craig Sorrell Pittman.
Craig Pittman
Born (1959-03-07) March 7, 1959 (age 65)[1]
Years active1993–1998, 2011 (professional wrestling)
1995, 2011–2012 (MMA)
Ring name(s)Sgt. Craig Pittman[1]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Billed weight250 lb (110 kg)[1]
Trained byWCW Power Plant[1]
The Assassin[1]
Terry Taylor[1]
Debut1993
Retired1998
Martial arts career
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight250 lb (110 kg)
DivisionHeavyweight
Mixed martial arts record
Total4
Wins2
By submission1
By decision1
Losses2
By submission1
By decision1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Military service
Allegiance
United States Marines Corps
Rank Sergeant

Craig Pittman (born March 7, 1959) is a former

United States Marine and professional wrestler.[1] He served in the Marine Corps until the early 1990s. He then wrestled professionally as Sgt. Craig "Pitbull" Pittman in World Championship Wrestling
(WCW). After leaving WCW in 1997, he continued to wrestle in independent promotions until 2004.

Prior to his professional career Pittman was a successful amateur wrestler. In addition to wrestling, he fought in four mixed martial arts bouts.

Early life

In his early childhood Pittman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, but moved with his family to Freeport, New York when he was young.[2] Pittman attended Freeport High School, where he was recruited to the Wrestling team by coach Terry Haise.[2] In his senior year, Pittman won the state championship in Wrestling.[2] During a subsequent trip to national championships, Pittman was offered a scholarship by University of Kentucky which he accepted.[2] However, after Pittman's freshman year the Wrestling program was shut down and without the scholarship he was forced to return to the east coast. Back home, Pittman attended Nassau Community College where he also wrestled, again reaching the national championships where he was disqualified in the first match due to a bodyslam.[2]

United States Marine Corps

After the community college, Pittman joined the United States Marine Corps and achieved the rank of sergeant.[1] He was a Wrestler in the Marines and won several championships. His biggest victories came in the 1989 and 1991 USA Senior Greco-Roman Championships, in which he won the heavyweight division.[1][3][4] He also placed seventh in the heavyweight division at the 1989 FILA Greco-Roman World Championships.[5]

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (1993 - 1997)

Undefeated streak and feuding with Cobra (1993–1995)

After leaving the military, Pittman trained as a professional wrestler at the

Worldwide. His first televised match was on the November 5 episode of Pro by defeating Ken Kendall.[7] His character was repackaged in early 1995 and vignettes promoting his debut aired on television beginning with the February 19 episode of Worldwide. He made his televised re-debut by defeating Todd Morton on the February 26 episode of Worldwide. Pittman made his pay-per-view debut at The Great American Bash, against "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, which he lost by disqualification when he refused to let go of the Code Red when Duggan was in the ropes.[1][8]
This marked Pittman's first loss but he remained undefeated as he was not pinned or submitted.

Pittman began his first

Teddy Long, turning face in the process.[1]

Mid-card competitor (1996–1997)

In 1996, Pittman wrestled mainly as a mid-carder, losing most of his matches to

The Giant.[12]

Pittman would go on to wrestle in WCW through the first 5 months of 1997, gaining opportunities at the United States Heavyweight Championship against Eddie Guerrero on Saturday Night on March 4, and his final match in WCW taking place on the 24th of May on Saturday Night, a shot at the World Television Championship against Lord Steven Regal.

Independent circuit (1997 - 2004)

Pittman left WCW in mid-1997 for the

Mid-Atlantic
area. Pittman arrived in Florida Underground Wrestling for several months finally coming out of retirement to defeat "The Cuban Assassin" Fidel Sierra.

On the July 10, 1998, Sgt. Craig Pittman would receive a shot at the

Dan "The Beast" Severn
. Afterwards he retired from wrestling.

In June 2011, Pittman came out of retirement to wrestle in two MMA style shoot fights both against Brent Dali in which in Pittman won both for Florida Underground Wrestling.

Mixed martial arts record

Pittman also had four mixed martial arts bouts. He fought in Vale Tudo Japan 1995 a mixed martial arts competition that took place in Japan on April 20, 1995. The tournament was ultimately won by Rickson Gracie. Pittman won his first fight against ninjitsu practitioner Wayne Emons by arm triangle choke. His lost his second fight against Yuki Nakai, a 150 lb shoto practitioner, by armbar. Vale Tudo Japan 1995 was well documented in the documentary Choke, a 98-minute film by filmmaker Robert Goodman which follows three of the participants (Rickson Gracie, Todd Hays and Koichiro Kimura) as they prepared for and fought in the event.

On October 1, 2011, Pittman competed at Real Fighting Championships 25 in Tampa Florida losing a Unanimous Decision to Rodney Bell.

On October 13, 2012, competed at Operation Octagon 21 in Sterling, Virginia where be beat Tony Horn by Unanimous Decision.

His MMA record currently stands at 2-2.


Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 2–2 United States Tony Horn Decision (unanimous) Operation Octagon 21 October 13, 2012 3 5:00 Sterling, Virginia, United States
Loss 1–2 United States Rodney Bell Decision (unanimous) Real Fighting Championships 25 October 1, 2011 3 5:00 Tampa, Florida, United States
Loss 1–1 Japan Yuki Nakai Submission (armbar) Vale Tudo Japan 1995 April 20, 1995 2 7:32 Tokyo, Japan
Win 1–0 United States Wayne Emons Submission (arm-triangle choke) Vale Tudo Japan 1995 April 20, 1995 1 2:12 Tokyo, Japan

Championships and accomplishments

  • Amateur Wrestling
    • USA Senior Greco-Roman Champion (2 times; 1989 and 1991)[1][3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Sgt. Craig Pittman". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sgt Craig "Pitbull" Pittman Full Career Shoot Interview 2019. Devon Nicholson. April 19, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  3. ^ a b "1989 USA Senior Greco-Roman Championship". National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on November 9, 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  4. ^ a b "1991 USA Senior Greco-Roman Championship". National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on March 28, 2004. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  5. ^ "1989 FILA World Championships Greco-Roman Results". National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  6. ^ "Wrestling Debuts Part 2". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  7. ^ a b "WCW Ring Results 1994". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  8. ^ "The Great American Bash 1995". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  9. ^ "Cobra". Weird World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2003-08-02. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  10. ^ "Fall Brawl 1995". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  11. ^ "Slamboree 1996". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  12. ^ "World War 3 1996". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-01-26.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Craig_Pittman&oldid=1220619508"