Erik Watts

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Erik Watts
Born (1967-12-19) December 19, 1967 (age 56)
Alma materUniversity of Louisville[2]
FamilyBill Watts (father)[3][2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Amarillo Slim[3]
Erik Watts[3]
Troy[4][2]
Billed height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[2]
Billed weight262 lb (119 kg)[2]
Trained byBill Watts
Debut1992[3][2]
Retired2006

Erik Watts (born December 19, 1967) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s. He is the son of wrestler Bill Watts.[3][2]

Early life

Watts attended the University of Louisville, where he was a quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals.[5][2][6]

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (1992–1994)

Watts trained as a wrestler under his father,

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Sting
.

In January 1993 Watts gained victories over The Barbarian, Tony Atlas, and a returning

Johnny Gunn in the opening round, Watts beat Maxx Payne by disqualification in the quarter-finals. The last two rounds of the tournament were held on March 2 in Macon, GA. Watts pinned Vinnie Vegas in the semifinals, but was defeated by Paul Orndorff in the finals.[9] Following his father's departure from WCW, Erik was targeted by Arn Anderson and began a house show series with The Enforcer as the Four Horsemen began the reformation. Watts continued to perform strongly against lower-level competition, but was defeated by Steve Regal on July 18, 1993, at Beach Blast. In August, he began a house show series with Chris Benoit and came out victorious in each encounter. A month later however he began his first losing streak, dropping matches to WCW TV Champion Steve Regal on multiple occasions.[10]

On November 30, 1993, he was involved in a major angle on WCW Saturday Night. After defeating Paul Orndorff, Paul Roma came out to ringside and attacked Watts. This would lead to the formation of eventual tag-team champions Pretty Wonderful. Meanwhile, Watts continued to be victorious in 1994 against lower-level competition, but was unable to break through against more experienced competition like Regal or Orndorff. His final match was on August 1, 1994, against Jean Paul Levesque in Ft Pierce, FL.[11]

World Wrestling Federation (1995–1996)

In 1995, Watts followed his father to the

In Your House 2 pay-per-view, acting as lumberjacks for the main event.[4] After being absent from TV for a year, they resurfaced in 1996, but still failed to achieve any success and both men were released from the WWF.[4]

Return to WCW (1998–1999)

On the April 16, 1998, edition of

WCW Television Championship on the March 30 edition of WCW Saturday Night, but would fall short at the hands of Booker T. His last TV appearance was on November 13 as he lost a match against Disco Inferno on Saturday Night.[13]

Extreme Championship Wrestling (2000)

Watts joined the

ECW Arena
debut. He remained with the promotion for two months before departing.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2000)

In late 2000, Watts worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling.

Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (2001)

In 2001, Watts worked for Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling in Philadelphia where he won the TCW Tag Team titles with Scotty Riggs.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002–2005)

In 2002, Watts joined

Brian Lawler (two other second generation wrestlers whose careers were overshadowed by those of their famous fathers, Ric and Jerry) known as "The Next Generation". After the faction disbanded, Watts turned face. He acted as the TNA Director of Authority from July 23, 2003, to January 28, 2004, before being ousted from his position by Don Callis. Watts then feuded with his on-screen girlfriend, Goldy Locks, throughout 2004. In late 2004, he feuded with Raven, defeating him at Final Resolution
on January 16, 2005, before leaving the promotion in February.

Retirement (2005–2006)

After leaving TNA, Watts began working primarily for the Georgia-based Great Championship Wrestling promotion. He also appeared with AWA Superstars of Wrestling, defeating Diamond Dallas Page for the vacant International Heavyweight Championship on February 4, 2005, in Tucson, Arizona, in a match refereed by Mick Foley. The title was retired by the AWA Board of Directors later that year. In November 2009, Watts returned to Great Championship Wrestling, now based in Phenix City, Alabama, to be the promotion's booker. He is also playing an authority role on their weekly live events.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d "OWOW profile".
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ a b c d e "Erik Watts". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  4. ^ .
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ "WCW 1992". thehistoryofwwe.com.
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ "WCW 1993". thehistoryofwwe.com.
  11. ^ "WCW 1994". thehistoryofwwe.com.
  12. ^ "WCW 1998". thehistoryofwwe.com.
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ "AWA International Heavyweight Championship history". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30.
  15. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - October 2004". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  16. ^ "PWI Awards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Kappa Publishing Group. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  17. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1998". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  18. ^ "TCW Tag Team Championship history".
  19. ^
    ISSN 1083-9593
    .

External links