Ernest Miller
Ernest Miller | |
---|---|
Birth name | Ernest Clifford Miller |
Born | [1] Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.[1] | January 14, 1964
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Ernest Miller |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] |
Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg)[1] |
Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia[1] |
Trained by | DeWayne Bruce WCW Power Plant |
Debut | February 1997 |
Ernest Clifford Miller
Career
Early career
Miller graduated from
World Championship Wrestling (1997–2001)
Early years (1997–1999)
Miller made his World Championship Wrestling (WCW) debut on February 12, 1997, where he worked 3 matches that night for TV tapings. The first two matches were victories over Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and Johnny Swinger. The last match was a loss to Glacier on WCW Worldwide which aired on April 13. He saved Glacier from a two-on-one attack by Wrath and Mortis at the 1997 Slamboree pay-per-view. Initially thought as just a fan who had jumped the railing, the WCW commentators then realized that this was no ordinary man and he was in fact the three-time karate champion Ernest Miller. Glacier and Ernest Miller quickly became tag team partners in their feud with Mortis and Wrath. After Glacier turned on Miller, Ernest left him and became a villain with Sonny Onoo as his manager. It was during this time that Miller's popularity heightened.
As a villain, Miller adopted an arrogant,
Miller then began a minor feud with
In June 1999, Miller had a dancing contest with Disco Inferno, who he attacked in jealously over the fans's attention. They fought in Bash at the Beach in a "dance match" with the stipulation that the loser could not dance anymore (though this stipulation was removed at Bash at the Beach), with Miller winning thanks to Onoo. The Cat's next opponent would be Buff Bagwell, who became famous by doing an impersonation of Miller with a bald cap and black face paint. The two met at Road Wild, but this time Onoo's help backfired when he accidentally hit the wrong man with a briefcase, making Miller lose the match. After that, the two broke up and Onoo left WCW.[4]
Commissioner (2000–2001)
Miller became a
After this match, he started to slowly turn into a fan favorite due to the high fan reaction he was getting whenever he entered an arena, coming to a rivalry with Mike Sanders from the Natural Born Thrillers stable, who sought to be the new commissioner. Miller offered Sanders a kickboxing match for the role, something which naturally had Mike afraid, but he agreed. During the match, Miller dominated three rounds, but at the last one he was attacked by Sanders's partner Shane Douglas, who pulled him out of the ring and made him being counted out. Angry at losing the commissionership, Miller kept chasing Douglas for the next months, enlisting Miss Jones as his valet to counter Douglas' Torrie Wilson. Ernest and Douglas fought at Mayhem, where Miller won after Jones overpowered Wilson and gave Miller his old loaded red shoe, which he used to knock Shane out.
Miller then became an enemy of
Miller's victory was short-lived, as Lance Storm came to reclaim the commissioner role with
Miller had two years on his WCW contract; as a result, he decided to stay at home for the two years to take care of his children.[5] Miller also appeared at some World Wrestling All-Stars shows in early 2002 and independent shows before going to the WWE where he would have a somewhat brief career.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2004)
After WCW, he kept his Ernest "The Cat" Miller ring name and gimmick, he made his dark match debut for
Miller appeared in the 2004 Royal Rumble match, making his entrance (along with manager Lamont) while the other two people in the ring, Chris Benoit and Randy Orton, were knocked down. Miller and Lamont proceeded to dance to his theme music, not bothering to capitalize on the advantage he'd been given. When Benoit and Orton got back up, both men quickly tossed him from the ring. During his time, his catchphrase, "somebody call my momma" (which was also used in WCW), started to be used in WWE. This phrase also appeared in the lyrics to his theme song, which he would dance to. Miller then competed in a 15-man Royal Rumble on SmackDown! to earn a shot at the WWE Championship against then Champion Brock Lesnar at No Way Out, but was once again thrown out during his theme song, this time by Kurt Angle. Following this, he started a short-lived feud with Tajiri after Tajiri attacked Lamont with his trademark Buzzsaw Kick. After the feud ended, Miller was released from WWE on February 10, 2004.
In 2012 his old theme song was then recycled for the entrance of
Years later in 2019, Miller further reflected his reasons for his WWE departure stating "I left WWE because they said they couldn't write for me. Which I thought was a little strange because how could you not write for somebody like me? I could do so many things and Vince McMahon used to tell me that every day. Every time he'd see me he'd say that you are talented and I'm a fan and you've got so many things you can do that all we have to do is give you a mic and go. But when I got there I saw that things were a little different and they were doing some different things and they did give me an opportunity up there and I was happy and I still appreciate them giving me the opportunity to work with them at WWE"[7] and "it just wasn't my time. They wanted me to wrestle and I didn't understand at the time but I understand now what they were talking about. They wanted me to go and develop myself and come right back. That is what they told me. If you go and develop yourself as a wrestler go develop yourself on the Indy circuit and we will come back and get you. But I didn't know the business".[8]
Later career (2006, 2015–2019)
Two years after his release from WWE, Miller worked a tag match on March 17, 2006, with his team losing. The event was held at Pro Wrestling Evolution in Canton, Georgia.
Miller came out of retirement on November 28, 2015, at WrestleCade competing in a battle royal won by
Return to wrestling (2022–present)
Miller returned to wrestling at 58 years old. He lost to Joey Janela at Game Charger Wrestling/Black Pro Label 4 Cups Stuffed in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on September 2, 2022.
Impact Wrestling (2023)
Miller made an appearance on the January 19, 2023 episode of
Outside professional wrestling
Miller had a significant role in the
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him No. 479 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003
- Martial Arts
- 3-time Karate World Champion
- World Championship Wrestling
- 3-time WCW commissioner
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ernest Miller profile". OWOW. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
- ^ )
- ^ "Ernest Miller vents about WWE giving Brodus Clay a gimmick similar to the one he had in WWE, says things were easier in WCW with Vince Russo in charge". www.prowrestling.net.
- ^ a b "Ernest "The Cat" Miller". Accelerator 3359. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
- ^ "VIP Video Shoot Interview–Guest/Ernest "The Cat" Miller - with Vince Russo". pyroandballyhoo.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
- ^ "Ernest 'The Cat' Miller Pissed At Brodus Clay's WWE Gimmick » TWNP-Wrestling News". 21 May 2012.
- ^ "Ernest Miller Opens Up On Why His WWE Tenure Was Short Lived And What Went Wrong". June 2, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ "Ernest Miller Opens Up On Why His WWE Tenure Was Short Lived And What Went Wrong". June 2, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ "Impact News: Ernest Miller Appears To Help Santino Marella, Mike Bailey Wins Pit Fight". January 19, 2023.
- ^ "Ernest Miller (III) at the IMDB". IMDb. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- ^ a b "Ernest Miller Discusses The Wrestler, Being The Cat, Hanging Out With Kanyon, James Brown, More". Barbaric Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
External links
- Ernest Miller at IMDb
- Ernest Miller's profile at Cagematch.net , Internet Wrestling Database
- Ernest Miller on X
- Ernest Miller on Facebook