Knuckles Nelson
Knuckles Nelson | |
---|---|
Birth name | Brendan Higgins |
Born | Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.[1] | September 26, 1963
Website | Knuckles Nelson on Myspace |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Brendan Higgins Knuckles Nelson Super Destroyer Tully McShane |
Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2] |
Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Reno, Nevada[2] |
Trained by | Bob Evans Paul Lazon Nick Steel Brian Brieger |
Debut | 1994[2] |
Retired | October 11, 2003 |
Brendan Higgins (born September 26, 1963),
He was a founding member of
Following Rumble's death, Nelson helped run NWA New England for a time and later became a full-time booker and promoter for Wrestling Star Wars until his retirement in 2003.
Biography
Early life and career
Born in
Nelson took them up on their offer and soon began training at the Freetown facility. It was there that he met Nick Steel and Brian Brieger who, in addition to Evans and Lazon, became his principal trainers. One of his earliest matches was against his former trainer Bob Evans whom he defeated at a show in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He eventually made his debut in 1994, under the name Tully McShane, and spent some time in Coastal Pro Wrestling before meeting Tony Rumble who would bring him into his emerging Boston promotion, the Century Wrestling Alliance.
Century Wrestling Alliance (1995-1998)
Nelson's first match in the CWA was under a mask and against Rumble himself. He suffered a bloody mouth during the match and Rumble ended up beating him with a Boston crab submission hold. Rumble paid him $100 and booked for three more shows beginning the start of his long career in the promotion.[3]
Rumble didn't like the "Tully McShane" name and began helping develop his later
He was also a regular on the promotion's television show, Mass Madness. On one occasion, during a match against a young Steve Bradley, Nelson attempted to use his brass knuckles but lost them to Bradley. The referee, seeing the foreign object, immediately disqualified Bradley giving Nelson the win.[12] It was also on the show that he started teaming with Erich Sbraccia.[13]
On March 17, 1997, Knuckles Nelson appeared on
NWA New England (1998-1999)
On January 24, 1998, Knuckle Nelson appeared at a CWA fundraising event, billed as "Killer Kowalski Night" held at the high school in Ridgefield, CT. Along with
By early-1998, Nelson had formed a successful tag team with Erich Sbraccia as part of Tony Rumble's "heel" stable The Brotherhood. Two months before dropping the television title to Steamboat, they had won the CWA Tag Team Championship from The Extremists (Ace Darling & Devon Storm) and held the titles until the CWA became NWA New England. He and Sbraccia later represented NWA New England in an interpromotional match at the NWA 50th Anniversary Show where they faced NWA World Tag Team Champions The Border Patrol (Agent Gunn & Agent Maxx) from NWA All-Star Wrestling. This was a "Four Corners" match that included Team Extreme (Kit Carson & Khris Germany) from NWA Southwest and Barry Windham & Tully Blanchard,[23] although Windham was later replaced with Dr. Tom Prichard. Together with manager Tony Rumble, The Brotherhood defeated The Border Patrol to win the titles.[12][24][25][26]
Although the NWA wanted Nelson and Sbraccia to tour
Early in their title reign, Sbraccia was injured and other members of the stable often substituted for him. The titles were held up on March 3, 1999, when Nelson and his partner were forced to miss a scheduled title defense in
The Brotherhood were given back the belts after a June 10 rematch in
He made another WWF appearance on the September 11th edition of
On September 25, he and Dukes Dalton, managed by Jeff Katz, lost the NWA World Tag Team titles to Team Extreme (Kit Carson & Khris Germany) at the NWA 51st Anniversary Show at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.[10][35][36] On October 30, he made a second appearance on WWF Jakked with Dukes Dalton against The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher).[1][37] He and Dalton would regain the belts a final time, beating the New York Posse in Thomaston, Connecticut, on October 2, and would continue to hold the belts until the stable split up early the next year.
When promoter Tony Rumble died of a heart attack in November 1999, he and Katz were chosen by his widow and co-owner Ellen Magliaro to take over running the promotion. Shortly thereafter, Nelson started his own promotion and Katz moved to Las Vegas to take over the morning drive show on that market's most successful talk radio station. After that, he and Katz were replaced by Jason Delgatta. Delgatta portrayed Tony Rumble's kayfabe son, "Boston Bad Boy" Jason Rumble who would remain the top star in the promotion.
Wrestling Star Wars and retirement (1999-2003)
Nelson founded Wrestling Star Wars, a regional promotion based in Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts, which he initially started in memory of Tony Rumble feeling it was his duty "to continue his work".[4]
On October 11, 2003, Nelson retired from the business in favor of spending more time with his family. In August 2009, he gave an interview with longtime NWA commentator Brian Webster discussing his post-wrestling career and the current state of wrestling.[38]
Championships and accomplishments
- CWA Television Championship (1 time)[39][40][41]
- CWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Eric Sbraccia[39][42][43]
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Erich Sbraccia, Dukes Dalton and Rick Fuller[39][44][45]
- NWA New England
- PWI ranked him #255 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1996.
References
- ^ a b c d e Cottam, Tony (2001-06-02). "Wrestle Guru Speaks". Wrestle Guru: The Ultimate Q & A Archive. Firetank.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Pro Wrestling Illustrated. "Statistics for Professional Wrestlers." 2001 Wrestling Almanac and Book of Facts. 6th ed. Fort Washington, PA: London Publishing Company, 2001. (pg. 47)
- ^ a b "The New England Indy Graveyard: Century Wrestling Alliance". The New England Independent. Metrocast.net. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Interview with Knuckles Nelson". WrestlingStarWars.com. 2002-09-22. Archived from the original on 4 February 2004. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "The New England Indy Graveyard: Wrestling Star Wars". The New England Independent. Metrocast.net. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Are you a pro-wrestler?". Indy Feds & Wrestlers. Karma's Wrestling Retro. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "USWA 2/4/95". USWA Memphis Match Listings. BBrownVideo.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Simpson, Greg. "Mindbender's Wrestling Greats: "C"". Mindbenders Wrestling Greats. Mindbenders.ca. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Winter 1996): pg. 45.
- ^ a b "NWA Supercards". Wrestling-History.de. 2007. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "1st Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl". Eddie Gilbert Memorial Shows. ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ a b c "Knuckles Nelson". Wrestlers. IndyWrestlingNews.com. 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Patrick Doyle (Producer) (2003-05-15). New England Mass Madness (VHS). Boston: RF Video.
- ^ "WCW". ColiseumWrestlingBoxing.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2002. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "1997 Nitro Season: March 17, 1997". Wrestleholic2001.com. 2001. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "3/17/97 Nitro in Savannah, GA". WCW TV: 1997. Rocelot's Wrestling DVDS & Tapes. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Cawthon, Graham. "WCW: 1997". Graham Cawthon's The History of the WWE. TheHistoryofWWE.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "WCW Monday Nitro: March 17, 1997". WCW Monday Nitro Live 1997. K & D's Matchlists. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "This Week In The WCW: WCW Monday Night Nitro - Monday, 03/17/97". DDTdigest.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Keith, Scott (2007-09-27). "The SmarK 24/7 Rant for The Monday Night War - March 17, 1997". Scott's Blog of Doom. RSPWfaq.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Millennium Wrestling Federation. "The History Of The CWA - Chelsea, MA - May 18th, 1997". The History of the Century Wrestling Alliance/NWA NE. IronSheikOnline.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Brushes With Greatness". Letter. DDTdigest.com. 1998-11-08. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Oliver, Greg (1998-10-22). "SLAM! Wrestling: NWA celebrates 50 years". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Oliver, Greg (1998-10-26). "SLAM! Wrestling: NWA turns 50 in grand style". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "NWA 50th Anniversary Show". NWA Anniversary Shows. ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Horie, Masanori (1998-11-02). "View from the Rising Sun: NWA 50th Anniversary". Rob Moore, Texas Wrestling Announcer. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ a b Woodward, Buck (2009-06-10). "This Day In History: Steve Austin Walks Out On WWE, Hardcore Homecoming Brings Barbed Wire Back To Philly And More". PWInsider.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- World Wrestling Federation (Producer) (1999-12-03). 05/08/1999 Shotgun: East Haven, CT/San Diego, CA (VHS). East Haven, Connecticut: TCTapes.net.
- ^ NWA (2009-06-19). "World Tag Team Championships". National Wrestling Alliance. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ Boston Wrestling (2009-06-17). "The History of the CWA". Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ NWA (2009-06-19). "World Tag Team Championships". National Wrestling Alliance. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ Taylor, Marc (1999-09-11). "WWF Jakked by Marc Taylor: 11.09.99". SlashWrestling.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Millennium Wrestling Federation. "The History of the CWA - Somerville, MA - September 22nd, 1999". The History of the Century Wrestling Alliance/NWA NE. WMFprowrestling.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Connecticut Championship Wrestling (Producer) (1999-12-03). 12/03/1999 Connecticut Championship Wrestling: East Haven, Connecticut (VHS). East Haven, Connecticut: TCTapes.net.
- ^ "NWA 51st Anniversary Show". NWA Anniversary Shows. ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Horie, Masanori (1999-10-04). "View from the Rising Sun: My Carolina Vacation". Rob Moore, Texas Wrestling Announcer. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Taylor, Marc (1999-10-30). "WWF Jakked by Marc Taylor: 30.10.99". SlashWrestling.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Webster, Brian (August 2009). "Webster's Weekly, August 2nd-8th". Webster's Weekly. NWAonFire.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ Westcott, Brian; Eric Roelfsema (1999). "CWA Television Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Puroresu Dojo (2003). "C.W.A. New England Television Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Westcott, Brian (2005). "CWA Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Puroresu Dojo (2003). "C.W.A./N.W.A. New England Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Royal Duncan; Gary Will; Matt Benaka; Brian Westcott; Eric Roelfsema; Richard Sullivan; Andrew Zadarnowski; Jim Dupree; David Crane; Joe Dean (2008). "NWA World Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Puroresu Dojo (2003). "N.W.A. World Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Brian Westcott; Eric Roelfsema; Jim Dupree (2007). "NWA New England Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Puroresu Dojo (2003). "N.W.A. New England Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Westcott, Brian; Eric Roelfsema (2005). "NWA New England Television Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Puroresu Dojo (2003). "N.W.A. New England Television Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Westcott, Brian; Eric Roelfsema (2006). "NWA New England Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ Puroresu Dojo (2003). "N.W.A. New England Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
- ^ "Class of 2014". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
Further reading
- Lister, John. Slamthology: Collected Wrestling Writings 1991-2004. Adlibbed Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-4116-5329-7
External links
- Knuckles Nelson on Facebook
- Knuckles Nelson on Myspace
- Knuckles Nelson's channel on YouTube
- CageMatch.de - Knuckles Nelson (in German)
- GenickBruch.com - Knuckles Nelson (in German)