Ed Ferrara

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Ed Ferrara
Birth nameEdward Ferrara
Born (1966-11-22) November 22, 1966 (age 57)[1]
Bowie, Arizona, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Ed Ferrara[1]
Oklahoma[1]
Bruce Beaudine[1]
The Powers That Be[1]
Billed height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Billed weight209 lb (91 kg)
Debut1994

Edward Ferrara (born November 22, 1966)

WCW Cruiserweight Champion, although he was forced to vacate the title for exceeding the 220 lb weight limit.[1] Ed Ferrara began his work in television production and writing, contributing to shows such as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show and Weird Science on the USA Network. Ferrara was also a wrestler in Slammers Wrestling Federation known as Bruce Beaudine. He was most recently working on the creative team for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
.

Biography

Education

Ferrara graduated from Drew University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in theater arts and English.[2]

Between 1994 and 1996, Ferrara was trained and wrestled in the California-based independent promotion - Slammers Wrestling Federation. Ferrara worked under the ring name of Bruce Beaudine and on April 11, 1996 he won the SWF heavyweight championship.[3]

World Wrestling Federation (1998–1999)

In 1998, Ferrara was writing for television shows on the USA Network. Executives at USA learned that he was working as an independent wrestler on the weekends, and set up a meeting with him and the

World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE). He matched the credentials required for the job including previous experience in wrestling and working in television production. He secured an interview with Vince McMahon and began working with the WWF at the King of the Ring in 1998 during the Attitude Era. He immediately clicked with his writing partner Vince Russo.[4]

Ferrara appeared on an episode of Sunday Night Heat on March 14, 1999 when Tiger Ali Singh called out a fan. The fan was Ferrara which Singh wanted to impersonation of Jim Ross. While Ferrara did the impersonation, fans began booing. Jim Ross and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams came out to confront Ferrara. Steve Williams German suplexed Ferrara and then attacked Singh.[5]

Eventually, Ferrara and Russo were offered a better deal to work for WCW, and left the WWF to go work there.

World Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)

Ferrara and Russo began working for WCW in October 1999, and they placed themselves within the onscreen product of WCW. They migrated their "Crash TV" formula from the WWF. Matches were shorter in length, speaking segments both inside and outside the ring were more prominent, and a far greater emphasis was made on pushing midcard wrestlers to the point that everyone on the card had a gimmick and/or storyline. Successful products of their initial tenure at WCW included Screamin'

Madusa
winning the Cruiserweight title.

Another storyline that didn't go over well with fans was Ferrara's controversial parody of WWF commentator

Cruiserweight Title
.

Their initial stint was epitomized by the reintroduction of the nWo after months of storylines which ultimately saw Bret Hart win the world title at the expense of his nemesis Goldberg. However, both Bret Hart and Goldberg got injured a few days prior to a major WCW pay-per-view. WCW later formed a booking committee which consisted of former bookers including Kevin Sullivan, Kevin Nash, J. J. Dillon and Bob Mould. This would also mark the beginning of the end for the friendship between Russo and Ferrara who both took opposing positions. Russo refused to work in the booking committee as he felt he was jobbed out by the backstage politics of the company whilst Ferrara decided he would stay on as he had just relocated his entire family to Atlanta and so felt compelled to continue his work as a writer. This would be the last time Russo and Ferrara would willingly work with one another in a wrestling environment, until being reunited in TNA years later (see below).

The success of the booking committee was limited at best. Ratings had plummeted and WCW was in a state of disrepair. Russo's and Ferrara's "Crash TV" writing style, which enjoyed immense popularity among the WWF's predominately Northern and Western audiences from urban areas, was openly resented by rural, traditional Southern wrestling fans who made up the majority of WCW's fanbase.[6] The new committee also led to the mass exodus of the most promising mid-card wrestlers in the company. Now known as The Radicalz, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn all walked out of WCW as Kevin Sullivan stated he had no plans to use them on subsequent programming. It was rumored that 17 wrestlers had asked for their release that night but only 5 of them got their successful release (this included Shane Douglas but he would return in April of that year). Within 2 months the booking committee was disbanded and in a desperate attempt to salvage their ailing product, WCW hired back Russo and Eric Bischoff to help out. This led to Ed Ferrara getting demoted to a road agent position.

He did voiceovers that played over the intercom when non-

interviews
, often getting La Parka in trouble with his opponents with the comments he created over the intercom.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002, 2009–2010)

From June to August 2002, Ferrara did color commentary on the

Don West when the company started.[1] At the time when the company was cutting costs due to lack of financial backing, Ferrara chose to leave[1]
after being told that he would not be receiving a paycheck on a regular basis and that he would only be paid when the company was able to make that money back.

Ferrara returned to the TNA creative team as of the September 20, 2009, TNA pay-per-view event No Surrender, being paired with Vince Russo once again.[7] On June 30, 2010, it was reported that Ferrara was no longer working for TNA.[8]

Later years

After WCW folded, Ed Ferrara debuted in

Spear, and Behrens entered the ring and physically slammed the unconscious hand of Rivers.[1]

In July 2004, he wrote a book titled Dark Consequences consisting of five horror short stories. In late 2005, a 3-disc DVD boxset was released entitled Pro Wrestling's Ultimate Insiders which consists of interviews with him along with co-writer

World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling
. Ferrara spent most of the subsequent years teaching at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois.

In 2005, his former writing partner Kevin Murphy named a character after him on the TV series Desperate Housewives.

In July 2013, Ferrara obtained his

Masters of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program.[2][9] Ferrara currently resides in Florida where he teaches "Creative Writing for Entertainment" at Full Sail University.[2]

In 2014, Ferrara was a regular host on Major League Wrestling Radio.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Oklahoma profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  2. ^ a b c "Faculty - Creative Writing for Entertainment - Full Sail University". fullsail.edu. August 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  3. ^ "SWF « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database".
  4. ^ "Ed Ferrara". April 28, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "411Mania".
  6. ISBN 1-5502-2661-4
    .
  7. ^ "Backstage notes from No Surrender". WrestleView.com. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
  8. ^ "TNA News: TNA writer Ed Ferrera reportedly no longer working for TNA, Why Eric Bischoff missed Tuesday's TV taping, New BHE TV project in the works". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  9. ^ "The Swerve with Vince Russo Podcast - Guest - Ed Ferrara - July 2014". pyroandballyhoo.com. August 1, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
  10. ^ "Cruiserweight Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1996". The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  12. ISSN 1083-9593
    .

External links
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