Travis Tomko

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Travis Tomko
Tomko in 2007
Birth nameTravis David Tomko
Born (1976-03-23) March 23, 1976 (age 49)
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Arma
Tattoo
Tomahawk
Tomko
Travis Bain
Travis Bane
Travis Tomko
Tyson Tomko
Billed height6 ft 6 in (198 cm)[1]
Billed weight275 lb (125 kg)[1]
Billed fromTombstone, Arizona
Jacksonville, Florida
Trained byJim Cornette[2]
Nightmare Danny Davis
Hack Meyers
Ohio Valley Wrestling
DebutJune 14, 2002
RetiredFebruary 22, 2016

Travis David Tomko (born March 23, 1976) is an American retired

Championships held by Tomko include the IWGP Tag Team Championship and TNA World Tag Team Championship.[3][2][4]

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2006)

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2003)

Tomko was signed to a

World Wrestling Federation (WWF) developmental contract in April 2002 and assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to sharpen his skills.[2] While in OVW he was a member of the Disciples of Synn stable and along with stablemate Seven captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, on March 5, 2003, though they lost them less than a month later to the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA).[2][5]

Raw (2003–2006)

In July 2003, Tomko began working

former tag team partner and real-life friend Edge.[2] In June 2005, Tomko, Christian, and Edge joined forces with Eric Bischoff in his crusade against Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).[2]

Tomko and Christian were separated in June 2005 when Christian was

big boot to the back of the head. On Raw, he knocked out both World Tag Team Champions, The Hurricane and Rosey. His winning streak ended after he was pinned by John Cena on Raw two weeks in a row.[2] Tomko then went on to form a tag team with Snitsky, however, they were not given much of a push.[2]

On April 3, 2006, Tomko quit WWE on good terms.[6] He then began to work in Japan.[2]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2006–2008)

Tomko debuted in

G1 Tag League 2006 in block B with Giant Bernard and reached the semi-final before losing to the eventual winners, Masahiro Chono and Shinsuke Nakamura
.

At

G1 Tag League 2007 by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi and Koji Kanemoto
.

At

The Steiner Brothers. They lost the titles on February 2, 2008, to Great Bash Heel members Togi Makabe and Toru Yano
. Tomko was released early in March 2008 after NJPW decided not to renew his contract. NJPW were struggling financially and could not afford to keep him going. They did however, re-sign his tag team partner Giant Bernard.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006–2008)

Christian's Coalition (2006–2007)

Main article: Christian's Coalition
Tomko (left) with Christian Cage in August 2007.

On the November 23, 2006 episode of

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Abyss in a non-title match. To avoid interference, Jim Cornette locked Christian in a cage, and also had Kurt Angle at ringside. During the bout, Angle got into a brawl with Samoa Joe, leaving Cage to escape the cage and interfere in the match, causing a disqualification.[2] On the March 1 edition of Impact! he beat Samoa Joe for a chance for an NWA title shot against Cage.[2]

On the March 8 edition of Impact!, Christian's Coalition lost to Kurt Angle,

A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, and Christian Cage.[2] A match was held to see who would go into the cage first. It would be a match between Samoa Joe and Styles, Jeff Jarrett
interfered to become the fifth member of team Angle. Tomko entered that match as the third member, and was successful, until being gored through the cage door. In the end Jeff Jarrett hit Abyss with a guitar full of tacks, and Sting got the pin.

On the following episode of Impact!, Tomko took part in Team Cage's attack on Abyss for being a liability to the team's success after Abyss and Cage failed to win the

Sacrifice, Tomko and Steiner met LAX and 3D in a three-way match for the title, but failed again.[2]

After this loss, Rick Steiner debuted in TNA and helped Scott attack Tomko.[2] Tomko remained in what was from then on once again known as Christian's Coalition, once again focused on aiding Cage. Some friction did set in after Cage cost Tomko his May 31, 2007 King of the Mountain qualifying match by distracting him with a chair. Tomko had been placed in the match against fellow Coalition member A.J. Styles because original contestant Jeff Jarrett no-showed (due to his wife's death). Christian was able to convince Tomko to continue on as his ally, which later came in handy as Tomko would go on to do much of the brunt work in the Coalition's feud against the returned Abyss and Sting, though he would be twice pinned by Abyss at PPV's after taking a Black Hole Slam each time.[2] However, the Coalition finally avenged these losses with another bloody beatdown of Abyss which also featured the laying-out of Sting on the July 26 Impact!.[2]

On the PPV that followed, Hard Justice, Tomko, along with Styles and Christian, had taken part in a "Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match", which Abyss picked a week after winning the contract to make it. The match was a barbed-wire six sides of steel cage match in which the objective was to make an opponent bleed and pin that opponent. The Coalition was able to lock Sting out for a while, but after he appeared in the ring, Tomko would be the first man busted open. After a long match, Christian would escape the cage, and Styles was pinned by Abyss.[2]

Teaming with Styles (2007)

Main article: A.J. Styles and Tomko

At

Bound For Glory.[2] At Bound for Glory on October 14, A.J. Styles and Tomko won the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Team Pacman.[8]

Styles and Tomko defeated LAX on the November 1 edition of Impact! to retain the TNA Tag Team title.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
against Christian Cage, staying with the Angle Alliance and turning his back on Cage, Tomko was not present with him, leaving both Christian and Angle, staying true to his word.

Kurt Angle's henchman (2008)

On the January 3 Impact! clarified Tomko's new outlook. While Styles worried about Christian's wrath in Kurt Angle's dressing room, Tomko explained to him that he's on his own.

Karen Angle
, claiming it's hurting the team's focus and even exploding on Styles on an episode of Impact!.

At the 2008

The Latin American Xchange
. Following the tournament, Tomko returned from a storyline injury suffered in Japan, and expressed unhappiness towards Styles for participating in the tournament with Super Eric, who was responsible for their title loss in the first place. Styles, in turn, expressed frustration over having to follow others for the past months and wanted to break out on his own. Following that, Tomko wished Styles the best of luck and officially disbanded their tag team.

Tomko continued to act as Kurt Angle's henchman, notably harassing

Matt Morgan but the program was cut short when Tomko parted ways with TNA in late July 2008, with reports circulating that he was unhappy with management. His final television appearance was on the August 7 edition of Impact! in an 8-man gauntlet in which he was pinned by Samoa Joe.[2]

Tomko had planned on working regularly for the Inoki Genome Federation in Japan but they cancelled many of their upcoming shows, opening up his schedule to appear one last time with TNA on a non-contractual basis. On the September 11, 2008, edition of Impact! he appeared as the third of three challengers to Samoa Joe as a part of Kevin Nash's challenge.[2]

Hustle (2009)

Tomko debuted in June 2009 under a mask and the ring name Arma in the Japanese wrestling promotion Hustle, where he formed a villainous tag team called "Armageddon" with fellow former WWE star René Duprée, who served as his partner Geddon.[2][10] This team would disband shortly thereafter when Geddon turned face and changed his ring name back to René Bonaparte. On July 30, 2009, Bonaparte defeated Arma in Tomko's final Hustle appearance.[10]

Return to TNA Wrestling (2009–2010)

On the November 19, 2009, edition of Impact! Tomko officially returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in an interview with

8 Card Stud Tournament Qualifying match. On the March 4 edition of Impact!, Tomko lost to Jeff Jarrett. On the March 22 edition of Impact!, Tomko was defeated by Rob Terry in a match for the TNA Global Championship. He was seen in a group of heels Eric Bischoff had directed to remove Abyss' mask, and on the May 13 edition of Impact!, Tomko lost to Orlando Jordan via submission which turned out to be his last match in TNA.[14][15] On August 19, 2010, Tomko's profile was placed in the alumni section on TNA's official website.[16]

Independent circuit (2013–2016)

On September 4, 2013, Tomko made his debut in

Miami, Florida
. On February 22, 2016, Tomko faced James "The Kid" Sabin at Florida Hardcore Wrestling and ended up in a disqualification when Sabin hit the referee with the chair.

Other media

Tomko appeared in the video games

TNA iMPACT!: Cross The Line as a playable character, as well as having various WWE action figures produced by Jakks Pacific.[18]

Personal life

Prior to his wrestling debut, Tomko served as a

Florida Keys, Florida
.

Championships and accomplishments

TNA World Tag Team Champions
in March 2008.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap "Tomko profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
  3. ^ "Tomko Bio". SLAM! sports. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Cagematch profile". Cagematch. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  5. ^ a b Dupree, Jim. "NWA - National Wrestling Alliance NWA Ohio Valley Wrestling Southern Tag Team Title History". Solie. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  6. ^ Denbaum, Evan (April 4, 2006). "Tomko looks to hone his skills during "lull" in WWE career". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Duncan, Royal. "I.W.G.P. - New Japan International Grand Prix I.W.P.G. Tag Team Title History". Solie. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  8. ^ a b "TNA official title history". TNA Wrestling. Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  9. ^ "January 10 iMPACT Results". January 10, 2008. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Recap of the January 10 iMPACT Results
  10. ^ a b "Hustle match list". Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  11. ^ Parks, Greg (November 19, 2009). "PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the post-Turning Point show". PWTorch. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  12. ^ Caldwell, James (December 17, 2009). "CALDWELL'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 12/17: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV show - final build-up to Final Resolution PPV". PWTorch. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  13. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (January 14, 2010). "WILKENFELD'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 1/14: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". PWTorch. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  14. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (March 22, 2010). "WILKENFELD'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 3/22: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". PWTorch. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  15. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (May 13, 2010). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact Report 5/13: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  16. ^ Lansdell, Chris (August 19, 2010). "More Various News: Winnipeg Supershow Lineup, TNA Removes Names From Roster, More". 411Mania. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  17. ^ "NWA FUW Throwdown 8 - The Silver Screen Showdown « Event-Datenbank « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  18. ^ "TNA iMPACT! Characters - Giant Bomb".
  19. ^ "NJPW, 11/2/07 (SXW)". Strong Style Spirit. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  20. ^ "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2007". wrestlingscout. February 26, 2016.
  21. ^ "NWE World Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  22. ^ "Bodyslamming profile". Bodyslamming. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
  23. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2008". Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  24. ^ "TNA No surrender 2007 9/9/07 - Results".
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