Tony Anthony

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For other people with the same name, see Tony Anthony (disambiguation).

Tony Anthony
valet Mystic, 1988
Birth nameDarrell W. Anthony
Born (1960-04-12) April 12, 1960 (age 64)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Spouse(s)Bernice Anthony
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)American Eagle II
Dirty White Boy
Grappler #2
The Invader
Mighty Yankee
T. L. Hopper
Tony Anthony
Uncle Cletus
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1]
Billed weight235 lb (107 kg)[1]
Billed fromBucksnort, Tennessee[2]
Trained bySteve Keirn
Ron Wright
DebutOctober 1980[3]
Retired2006

Darrell W. Anthony (born April 12, 1960

World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) under the ring names of T. L. Hopper and Uncle Cletus.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1980–1988)

Trained by

The Fabulous Ones (Keirn and Stan Lane) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship on August 8, 1983.[5] After losing the title, The Grapplers continued to team elsewhere, winning the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship twice in 1984.[5]

After The Grapplers disbanded, Anthony continued to wrestle on the independent circuit, splitting his time between singles competition and tag team action. He teamed with

NWA Continental Tag Team Championship four times before the promotion closed.[5] After it became the Continental Wrestling Federation, Anthony and Stubbs won the tag team title twice more.[5] As a singles wrestler, Anthony won the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship on four occasions. He beat Wendell Cooley to begin both of his first two reigns, Bob Armstrong to begin his third and Tom Prichard for his fourth. His last reign ended when the title was retired in 1988.[7]

United States Wrestling Association (1989–1992)

In 1989, Anthony defeated

USWA Tag Team Championship on three occasions, once with Tom Burton and twice with Doug Gilbert.[9]

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1992–1995)

Anthony competed primarily as a singles wrestler in

Unabom) for the SMW Tag Team Championship.[5]

World Wrestling Federation (1996–1997)

In 1996, Anthony joined the

Duke "The Dumpster" Droese.[12]

Although he did not wrestle on any WWF pay-per-views, he made an appearance during the "Bikini Beach Blast-Off" segment, on the Free For All show immediately preceding SummerSlam 1996. Based on his experience as a plumber, Hopper was chosen to investigate a brown object resembling feces on the bottom of the swimming pool which turned out to be a sausage.[13] The segment parodied a scene in the movie Caddyshack. He continued wrestling in lower cards matches mainly in house shows until June 1997.

After taking a brief hiatus, he returned to the WWF in September 1997 as Uncle Cletus, coming from the audience to help the

Legion of Doom to win the title. Following this, the Godwinns attacked Cletus, who was never seen in the WWF again.[16]

Independent circuit (1997–2006)

After leaving the WWF, Anthony returned to his home state of Tennessee (where he had maintained considerable fame and popularity) and wrestled for various independents around East Tennessee until retiring from active competition in 2006. In recent years, he played a prominent role in Knoxville's Tennessee Xtreme Wrestling, as its face commissioner.

Championships and accomplishments

  • American Wrestling Federation
    • AWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[17]
  • New Dimension Wrestling
    • NDW Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • United Atlantic Championship Wrestling
    • UACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[17]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0
    .
  2. ^ "Wrestlers' Stats - Part #1". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Dirty White Boy". Genickbruch: Die Wrestlingseite des alten Europa (in German). Retrieved January 25, 2008.
  4. ^ Dawson, Eric. "Hardcore, Old-Time Wrestling". Knoxville Voice. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Online World of Wrestling Profiles: Tony Anthony". Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  6. ^ "Personality Profiles". Tennessee Mountain Wrestling. Retrieved September 19, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title History". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  8. ^ "USWA Heavyweight Title History". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  9. ^ "USWA World Tag Team Title History". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  10. ^ "Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Title History". Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  11. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1994". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
  12. ^ Bernardo, Mark. "Rope Dopes: WWE's Lamest Bad Guys". Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  13. ^ Reynolds, R.D. "Previous Inductions". Wrestlecrap. Retrieved September 18, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ Meltzer, Dave. "Wrestling Observer: September 3 – 9th, 1997". Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  15. ^ "Uncle Cletus Godwinn". Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  16. ^ "Mark Canterbury". Archived from the original on February 13, 2008. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  17. ^
    ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  18. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  19. ^ "Southern Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  20. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  21. ^ "CWA Southwestern Title". ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  22. ^ "PWI 500 1994". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  23. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  24. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 16, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/16): Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton win WCW Tag Team Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Anthony&oldid=1218622873"