Alex Wright

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Alex Wright
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Berlyn Alex Wright
Billed height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Billed weight	101 kg (222 lb)
Born	May 17, 1975 Nürnberg, Germany
Trained by	Steve Wright
Debut	1994

Alex Wright is the son of British wrestler Steve Wright (one of many early rivals of the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama) and a German woman. He wrestled professionally in Germany and Japan before signing with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He became known for his distinctive pre-match dancing as well as his technical in-ring ability that would ultimately lead him to WCW championship gold.

Dubbed "Das Wunderkind", he was initially a face for several years but then turned heel in 1997. He won the WCW Cruiserweight Title in 1997 from Chris Jericho, and the Television Title later that year. The storyline had Jericho refusing a win by countout after Wright botched a move from the top rope and crashed into the outside guardrail, rendering him unable to continue the match.

Wright paired with Disco Inferno in 1998 to form a moderately successful tag team called the Dancing Fools, which at times also featured Japanese wrestler Tokyo Magnum in the role of a tagalong who regularly attempted to imitate their dancing styles.

At the beginning of 1999, Wright was kept off WCW television for an extended length of time until May, when promotional spots began appearing on WCW television featuring Wright as a surprising new Gothic-style character named Berlyn, with a black Mohawk and goatee replacing his blond hair and movie-star looks. He was clad entirely in black with a long trenchcoat. The promos coincided with the aftermath of the Columbine school massacre, which threw a hitch in WCW's plans. Sensing the unintentional similarities in dress between Berlyn and the teenage killers, WCW delayed the debut of Berlyn for several months. Despite the shock value upon his debut, which occurred in September on Monday Nitro, Berlyn never really got over with fans. This was due in part to his debut match in which he was supposed to defeat Buff Bagwell, but Bagwell had refused to lose to Wright and even going as so far to miss a flight in order to avoid having to. Hacksaw Jim Duggan substituted for Bagwell, who then no-sold all of Wright's offense and threw him around like a ragdoll even though Wright picked up the win in the end. Even though Bagwell ended up losing to Wright anyway, irreparable damage was done to the character. His bodyguard who accompanied him to the ring, The Wall (as in "The Berlyn Wall"), ended up receiving a push from WCW management while Berlyn was stuck in the midcard. After feuds with the likes of Buff Bagwell and Brad Armstrong (the latter in the requisite USA-versus-evil-foreigner gimmick), Berlyn faded away in less than a year.

In 2000, Wright re-paired with Disco Inferno - now christened "Disqo," to form the Boogie Knights. They won the tag titles from Mark Jindrak and Sean O'Haire on November 16 in Germany. Disqo was sidelined with an injury, so General Rection (aka Hugh Morrus) subbed for him and they lost the titles to Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak on November 20. Disqo eventually returned from injury and the Boogie Knights gimmick lasted until WCW ceased operations in April 2001.

Wright fell out of the spotlight after the folding of WCW, and has not appeared on American television since then. In the years following Wright has stayed away from active competiton, only wrestling on very few Occasions in Germany. Today he is working as a banker and fitness instructor in Nuremberg.

Wright is a born-again Christian and had regular Bible studies with other Christians in the locker room during his WCW days.