Phil Apollo
| Phil Apollo | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Phil Pantos |
| Born | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Trained by | Killer Kowalski |
| Debut | 1986 |
| Retired | 1995 |
Phil Pantos, better known by his ring name Phil Apollo, is a retired American professional wrestler who competed in North American independent wrestling promotions including International Championship Wrestling (ICW) and World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). During the 1980s, he was part of Gary Hart's "New Age Management" stable in WCCW and teamed with Eric Sbraccia to form a team known as the Dynamic Duo, winning the ICW Heavyweight Championship twice.
Professional wrestling career
Phil Pantos trained at
Jeep Swenson and John Nord. His first major show appearance was as part of WCCW's 1987 "Labor Day Star Wars" show on September 7, 1987 where he defeated Vic Steamboat.[3] A few months later, at WCCW's 1987 Christmas Star Wars he lost to The Missing Link.[4] He later wrestled at the 5th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions as well as WCCW's 5th Cotton Bowl extravaganza.[5][6] Following his stint in WCCW Apollo returned to ICW where he was teamed up with Eric Sbraccia to form a tag team known as the Dynamic Duo, a name taken in tribute to the WCCW team of the same name that was made up of Gentleman Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez. On March 5, 1989 the Dynamic Duo defeated the S & S Express (Vic Steamboat and Joe Savoldi) to win the ICW Tag Team Championship[7][8] Their first run with the championship lasted 118 days until the S & S Express regained the championship.[7][8] The Dynamic Duo would briefly hold the tag team championship again in December 1989 as they defeated the Undertakers (Henchman and Punisher) on December 28, then lost the titles to The Lethal Weapons (Dennis Condrey and Doug Gilbert) only two days later.[7][8] During the early 1990s, Apollo competed as a preliminary wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) most notably facing Adam Bomb with manager Johnny Polo in their debut on Monday Night Raw
in 1993.
Championships and accomplishments
- ICW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1][2]
- ICW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Erich Sbraccia[7][8]
- PWI ranked him # 478 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1992
References
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ a b c "International Championship Wrestling (1984-1991/01)/International World Class Championship Wrestling (1991/01-mid-1990s) Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ "Labor Day Star Wars 1987". Pro Wrestling History. September 7, 1987. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "Christmas Star Wars 1987". Pro Wrestling History. December 25, 1987. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "5th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions". Pro Wrestling History. May 8, 1988. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ "5th Cotton Bowl Extravaganza". Pro Wrestling History. October 15, 1988. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ a b c d "International Championship Wrestling (1984-1991/01)/International World Class Championship Wrestling (1991/01-mid-1990s) Tag Team Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved April 8, 2015.