Gregg Groothuis

Gregg Groothuis (born May 1, 1970) is an American professional wrestler, known by his stage name Jack Bull, who competed in North American independent promotions including Impact Zone Wrestling, the

In March 2005, Groothuis signed a developmental contract with

Career

Early life and career

Born in

He had met Marc Mero while working out at a local Venice gym. A former wrestler for World Championship Wrestling, Mero had been involved in running independent shows in Florida at the time and had offered to help him break into professional wrestling. However, already accepted to Marshall College, he instead declined the offer and instead chose to go to school.

While attending

Moving back to Phoenix in 2002, Groothuis began training at Navajo Warrior's wrestling school. Later becoming an instructor there, he also began wrestling regularly for his Phoenix-based promotion Impact Zone Wrestling and eventually won the heavyweight title in a championship tournament two years later.[1]

On February 5, 2003, Groothuis substituted for one of the IZW Tag Team Champions during a title defense against the Killer Klowns at the Rodeo Nights in Phoenix. Midway through the match however, Groothuis walked out on his partner allowing the Killer Klowns to win the tag team titles.^[5] Groothuis later won the IZW Tag Team Championship himself when he and Chris Kole defeated G.Q. Gallo & Lawrence Tyler on February 3, 2004. After they lost the titles, the two engaged in a long running feud which lasted half a year.

His feud with Chris Kole was finally reached its conclusion when he defeated him in a Loser Leaves Town match on August 17, 2004. In October, he beat Kharma and teamed with Hollywood Yates at an Ultimate Pro Wrestling losing to Rikishi & Skulu at the end of the month. Feuding with Lawrence Tyler during the next few weeks, he lost to Tyler on November 9 but came back to defeat him in a 2/3 falls match to retain the IZW Heavyweight title on November 23.

Defeating Nick DeCarlo on January 4, 2005, he suffered a disqualification loss to Bryan Danielson that same month. On February 1, he beat Cowboy Jack Durango and, two weeks later, teamed with Navajo Warrior & Hawaiian Lion in a 6-man tag team match defeating Lawrence Tyler, Jack Durango & Train on February 15. On March 1, he lost a match against Train for the IZW Heavyweight title. The following day, he signed a developmental contract with

On March 15, he defeated The Lynch Mob (Ryan Lynch & Lucha Reigns) in a Handicap match and, the next night, he made his last appearance with Impact Zone Wrestling losing to The Honky Tonk Man being pinned after the Shake, Rattle and Roll.

Deep South Wrestling

Groothuis was assigned to its developmental territory

In his OVW debut, Groothuis lost to CM Punk on December 3 and, a week later, he and Kasey James lost to The Riggs Brothers at a house show. Four days later, he appeared in a dark match losing to Deuce Shade. On January 21, 2006, a match between him and Roadkill ended in a double disqualification. Although defeating him the following night, Groothuis would lose matches to Chet The Jet, Elijah Burke and Roadkill during the next two months.

On March 11, Groothuis defeated

On April 15, under the name Generic Bay Bland, he lost to Jason Riggs and, almost a week later, he and Pat Buck lost The Riggs Brothers. On May 3, he lost a no disqualification match to OVW Television Champion Seth Skyfire. During the match, The Miz and his former valet Roni Jonah began taunting Skyfire. Skyfire then left then ring and began fighting with The Miz outside the ring. The referee began counting out Skyfire, but was stopped by Groothuis who challenged him to a no disqualification match. Returning to the ring, Skyfire agreed and called for the bell then pinned him with a rollup seconds later.^[10]

Although losing to

Returning to the independent circuit, Groothuis lost to Tank Toland at a Hoosier Pro Wrestling event in Columbus, Indiana on March 3. A month later, he made a surprise appearance at an IZW show interfering in a match against "Hawaiian Lion" John Williams and Jon VonCross. As a result, Williams won via disqualification. Siding with VonCross in his ongoing feud with Williams, Groothuis was in his corner when he faced Williams for the IZW Heavyweight title on May 8. On May 22, Groothuis defeated Mike G. in Tempe, Arizona. He also made a brief return to OVW appearing at an OVW television taping on June 13 and, two days later, defeating Nickolas Sinn at the OVW Six Flags show.^[11] On July 2, Groothuis took on Williams himself but failed to unseat the champion.

On January 2, 2008, Groothuis was scheduled to perform a stunt during an interpromotional supercard between IZW and NWA Arizona, the latter promotion closing and merging with IZW. Held at the Broadway Recreation Center in Mesa, Arizona, he was stopped by IZW Board of Directors' representative Strangler Steve King and then attacked by "The Limited Edition" Tommy Drake.^[16] Feuding with Tommy Drake during the next weeks, he defeated Drake on January 29. He and Lil' Nate also defeated Drake & Sexy Sonny Samson in a tag team match on February 12.

On July 1, at an interpromotional event between IZW and NWA Pro, he pinned Dean Radford at The Sets in Tempe, Arizona.^[17] He also appeared in the corner of "Wolf" Hollywood Yates in his match against The Great Ryan Lynch, accompanied by Steve King, on July 17.^[18] On August 12, he and Steve King defeated Tyson Tyler and Tommy Drake.^[19][20]

Championships and accomplishments

• Impact Zone Wrestling

• IZW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• IZW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kole

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him #384 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2006

References

External links

• Profile at Online World of Wrestling
• Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster: Jack Bull
• CageMatch.de - Jack Bull (in German)