The Boogeyman (wrestler)

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The Boogeyman
The Boogeyman in 2008
Birth nameMartin Wright[1]
Born (1964-07-15) July 15, 1964 (age 59)[1]
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)The Boogeyman[2]
Marty Wright[1]
The Nightcrawler
Slither[3][unreliable source]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Billed weight260 lb (118 kg)[2]
Billed fromThe Bottomless Pit[2]
Trained byOhio Valley Wrestling[1]
Stevie Ray
Booker T
DebutOctober 15, 2004

Martin Wright[1] (born July 15, 1964),[1] better known by the ring name The Boogeyman, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE under a legends contract,[4] and is an aerobics instructor.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2009)

Tough Enough and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004–2005)

Wright first entered the world of professional wrestling to take part in the fourth season of the

Venice Beach, California, where he was among eight finalists chosen. After surviving the first day of eliminations he admitted that he was actually 40 years old—five years over the competition's cut off point—and not 30 as he'd claimed.[1] As a result, he was cut from the competition.[1]

Though he had been cut from Tough Enough, WWE officials invited him to come to their

no-selling the offense of Skyfire in the process. He then announced that he was "The Boogeyman" before leaving the building. The Boogeyman gimmick further evolved into a "monster" face
who would appear when another wrestler said his name and attack him, while not selling any offense he received.

SmackDown! (2005–2007)

On the July 11, 2005 episode of

hyperextended both knees and needed time to recover. He made his debut on the October 14, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, being brought in by network executive Palmer Canon as part of a "new talent initiative". The storyline referenced to vignettes months ago as promos for a television series on the network called "The Boogeyman". The show was cancelled before it could air, but they still had the actor under contract, so he was brought to SmackDown! to wrestle. The Boogeyman then proceeded to recite a modified version of the chant One, two, Freddy's coming for you from the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street before smashing an oversized alarm clock on his own head.[6] For the next few weeks, The Boogeyman appeared in unexpected places backstage (closets, vans, et cetera), reciting different nursery rhymes and holding up clocks before screaming his catchphrase "I'm The Boogeyman and I'm comin' to get'cha!" and laughing maniacally
.

At

Nunzio who were dressed as Santa Claus and an elf.[9]

Boogeyman's first major

Piper's Pit segment, The Boogeyman not only sniffed a "growth" on Jillian's face, but then licked it, bit it off and ate it.[11] The Boogeyman faced JBL at the Royal Rumble, winning in under two minutes.[12]

After defeating The Dicks in a handicap match on the February 24 episode of SmackDown!, The Boogeyman dumped a bucket of worms on the announce table, frightening special guest commentators

biceps tear at a house show. To explain his absence to rehab his injury, Booker T and Sharmell obtained a restraining order against The Boogeyman on the April 7 episode of SmackDown!.[16]

As SummerSlam approached, The Boogeyman began appearing in TV spots to promote the event. Vignettes also began airing advertising his return to SmackDown!. On September 20, WWE.com reported that Wright had been released from the company,[17] however, on October 6, WWE.com announced that Wright had re-signed with the company and would be sent to be trained at Booker T and Stevie Ray's wrestling school in Houston, Texas. Wright returned on the October 27 episode of SmackDown!, attacking and spitting worms into the faces of The Miz and Kristal Marshall.[18] During the feud he again terrorized and stalked his opponents, and eventually ended The Miz's undefeated streak at the Armageddon pay-per-view on December 17.[19]

Wright then feuded with

Finlay, who ended The Boogeyman's undefeated streak when Hornswoggle interfered. On the February 2 edition of SmackDown! during a match against Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship, Boogeyman abducted Hornswoggle, distracting Finlay and giving Benoit a chance to win the match with a roll-up. On the February 16 edition of SmackDown! The Boogeyman appeared with a little person of his own, Little Boogeyman, who was portrayed by an actor named Chris Hollyfield. His purpose was to counteract Hornswoggle, who was proving a problem in one-on-one matches with Finlay. The Boogeyman and the Little Boogeyman lost to Finlay and Hornswoggle in a mixed tag team match at No Way Out
. The team lost a rematch the following week on SmackDown!; Little Boogeyman was pinned by Finlay, after Wright had chased away Hornswoggle.

On OVW's 400th anniversary show, The Boogeyman made an appearance, losing to

Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIV
on June 2.

The Boogeyman ended his tenure on SmackDown! with a loss to Mark Henry in a squash match, as part of Henry's new "Path of Destruction" gimmick. After that match, Mark Henry then beat up Little Boogeyman who was at ringside, and Henry gave him a body splash, (kayfabe) severely injuring him.

ECW and departure (2007–2009)

On the June 11 edition of Raw, The Boogeyman was drafted to the

enforcer, Big Daddy V.[21] The Boogeyman was not seen for the next three weeks, finally re-emerging on the July 31 episode—with a new face paint design and black contact lenses—to scare Big Daddy V off after he finished a match.[22] Boogeyman was taken out by Big Daddy V from behind after a distraction from Striker a week later.[23]

On the August 14 episode of

Fatal Four Way match for a shot at Morrison's title; however, CM Punk was the victor.[26] On September 4, on ECW, Boogeyman defeated Matt Striker by disqualification when Big Daddy V interfered, and went on to hit Boogeyman with a ghetto drop on the outside of the ring.[27] On the September 18 episode of ECW, Boogeyman and Big Daddy V finally faced off in their first one-on-one match, which Boogeyman lost.[28]

Boogeyman's return to wrestling action was initially delayed due to a torn calf muscle, but it had also been reported that he was having dental surgery done to replace missing teeth.

Jackass's Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius
, and Big Dick Johnson ending with The Boogeyman bringing live worms out of a bag and after putting them in his own mouth spat them into the mouth of Pontius.

The Boogeyman made his ECW return on the November 25 episode, in a segment with

John Morrison and The Miz. He made his return to in ring competition on December 9 against Scott Reed, a local talent, who he defeated with ease.[30] On the December 30 episode of ECW, he lost to John Morrison and The Miz in a No DQ match with Finlay as his partner.[31] On the January 20, 2009 edition of ECW, he defeated Paul Burchill by disqualification, his first victory over a non-enhancement talent since returning to the brand.[32] His last appearance on WWE programming was on the March 3 episode of ECW where he lost in a match against Kane. The next day on March 4, 2009, WWE announced that they had released Wright from his WWE contract.[33]

Independent circuit (2010–present)

After WWE, Wright returned to the Pro Wrestling Alliance using his Boogeyman gimmick. He wrestled at the Cyberstarz event of Millennium Wrestling Federation in February 2012, where he defeated Lukas Sharp.[34]

Return to WWE (2012–present)

On the December 16, 2012 episode of

Slammy Awards, sneaking up on former rival Booker T.[35][36]

Boogeyman appeared in Halloween themed videos on the WWE YouTube channel in both November 2013 and October 2014. On the December 22, 2014 episode of Raw, Boogeyman appeared in a segment on the WWE App.

On January 25, 2015, at the

Pat Patterson pin Maverick and win the WWE 24/7 Championship.[citation needed
]

On January 4, 2021, Boogeyman once again appeared on the Raw Legends Night special and scared 24/7 Champion Angel Garza, allowing R-Truth to pin him and win the title.[39]

Personal life

As of 2018, Wright was working as an aerobics instructor in Denver, Colorado.[40] Wright has his own training facility in Boulder, Colorado, from which he regularly posts videos of himself helping others lose weight and get in shape.

Other media

In January 2013, Wright appeared on two short promos featuring Bobby Lashley to promote Lashley's family fitness center in Aurora, Colorado named American Top Team Altitude.[41][42]

In 2015, Wright appeared in two episodes of the

Jackass co-creator Jeff Tremaine
. In 2018, he appeared on the House Hardy Halloween special that aired on WWE Network.

Wright made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 and also appeared in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE 2K Battlegrounds (as DLC) , WWE 2K22 (as DLC), WWE 2K23 and WWE 2K24.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Boogeyman Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  2. ^
    World Wrestling Entertainment
    . Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  3. ^ "The Boogeyman Says He's Returning Soon, Benoit Vs. MacMahon". WrestlingINC.com. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
  4. ^ "Boogeyman". WWE. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  5. ^ "WWE RAW Results – July 11, 2005". Wrestlezone. Retrieved July 11, 2005.
  6. ^ "SmackDown! — October 14, 2005". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Clark, Ryan (November 27, 2005). "WWE Survivor Series 2005 results". Wrestlezone. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  8. ^ "SmackDown! — December 2, 2005". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "Armageddon 2005 results". WWE. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  10. ^ "SmackDown! — January 6, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  11. ^ "SmackDown! — January 13, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  12. ^ "Royal Rumble 2006 results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  13. ^ "SmackDown! — February 24, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  14. ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event — March 18, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  15. ^ a b "The Boogeyman def. Booker T & Sharmell (2-on-1 Match)". WWE. Archived from the original on January 17, 2007. Retrieved November 13, 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
  16. ^ "SmackDown! — April 7, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  17. ^ "Breaking News: WWE releases Marty "The Boogeyman" Wright & more". WrestleView. 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  18. ^ "SmackDown! — October 27, 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  19. ^ "Armageddon 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  20. World Wrestling Entertainment
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  29. ^ "WWE News: Live Backlash Coverage, Torrie's Future, Boogeyman Update". 411mania.com. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  30. World Wrestling Entertainment
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  31. World Wrestling Entertainment
    . Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  32. World Wrestling Entertainment
    . Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  33. World Wrestling Entertainment
    . 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
  34. ^ "February 2012 MWF Cyberstarz - The Boogeyman; Scott Reed & Julian Starr -vs Bad Penny". bostonwrestling.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.[dead YouTube link]
  35. ^ Pena, Daniel (9 July 2012). "Boogeyman Returning To Wrestling, SummerSlam Axxess Pre-Sale Code, Vickie Guerrero". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  36. ^ Holmes, Matt (18 December 2012). "WWE Raw 17/12/12 Results - Ric Flair, Tommy Dreamer & The Boogeyman Return!". What Culture. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  37. ^ Caldwell, James (January 25, 2015). "CALDWELL'S ROYAL RUMBLE PPV REPORT 1/25: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of Cena vs. Cena vs. Rollins for WWE Title, annual Royal Rumble match, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  38. ^ "THE LATEST WRESTLER TO SIGN A WWE LEGENDS CONTRACT IS..."
  39. ^ "WWE Raw Legends Night results and highlights: January 4, 2021". myKhel. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  40. ^ BOOGEYMAN [@realboogey] (November 6, 2015). "Guess who, just signed a WWE SUPERSTAR Legends Contract...Never Give Up..Thank U Vince..Cmin2getcha!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  41. ^ "Bobby Lashley and Boogeyman.mov". Bobby Lashley. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  42. ^ "Bobby Deol vs Boogeyman Ep.2". YouTube. Retrieved May 28, 2013.[dead YouTube link]
  43. ^ "AWF Results from 3/14/2015 |". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  44. ^ "PWI Awards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Kappa Publishing Group. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  45. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2007". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 29, 2018.

External links

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