Mortimer Plumtree
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| David Webber | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Mortimer Plumtree |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in |
| Billed weight | 215 lb |
| Born | 1969 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Trained by | Lenny Lane, JB Trask, Jerry Lynn |
| Debut | Summer, 1994 |
| Retired | Summer, 2005 |
Mortimer Plumtree was an independent wrestling manager whose claim to fame came with the formation of NWA Total Nonstop Action in June of 2002. Plumtree, whose real name is David Webber, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in the same area as the infamous “Robbinsdale” crew of Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, the Road Warriors, Barry Darsow and Nikita Koloff, Brady Boone, John Nord, among others.
Plumtree broke into the professional wrestling ranks under the tutelage of former AWA ring announcer Mick Karch in June of 1994. Early on, he was aligned with future WCW Cruiserweight Champion Lenny Lane, and the duo appeared on independent cards throughout the upper Midwest region. In 1996, Plumtree appeared in Paul Alperstein’s nationally-televised promotion, the American Wrestling Federation, under the guise of Aloysius Hayes, Lord Alfred Hayes’ nephew.
Though slated for a try-out with WCW in the fall of 1997, Plumtree was ejected from the locker room following a misunderstanding with then-Vice President Eric Bischoff. After the incident, Plumtree appeared less-frequently and was rumored to have retired to focus on religion. However, he began to make waves in the newly formed Steel Domain Wrestling in mid-1998 and became manager for the “Chicago Group” of Ace Steel, Danny Dominion and Brad Bradley, along with Magnus Maximus and others.
In early 2002, Plumtree was contacted by Jeremy Borash, who had given Plumtree a great deal of exposure on his Wrestling Radio show. Borash was in the midst of forming Total Nonstop Action along with Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Jarrett, and Bob Ryder. After Borash had previewed a videotape of Plumtree for the Jarretts from years earlier, the Jarretts immediately showed interest in signing the manager to his first national contract.
Plumtreee appeared for NWA TNA on its first worldwide broadcast on June 19, 2002, from Birmingham, Alabama, managing the masked Johnson Brothers, Richard and Rod (aka the Shane Twins). After only two shows, the Johnsons were released from their contracts and Plumtree appeared only frequently. During this time, Webber became a full-time staff member for the fledgling group, traveling between his home in Minnesota, where his family continued to live, and Nashville, Tennessee, where the TNA offices are located.
In October of 2002, Plumtree was paired with his old friend from the SDW days, Ace Steel. Again, TNA dropped Steel from his contract after only a few shows, and realigned Plumtree with standout AJ Styles. Over the next few months, Plumtree aided Styles in wars against two fellow Minnesotans, Sean Waltman and Jerry Lynn.
In January of 2003, Vince Russo allegedly wrote Plumtree out of all future TNA programming due to his feeling that Webber was aligned with Jerry Jarrett in office politics. Plumtree remained on staff full-time until June, when he moved back to Minnesota. He would appear only a handful of times after that, both for the failed Force 1 Wrestling promotion he assisted with booking and with another short-lived group, the American Wrestling League.
[edit] Wrestlers managed by Plumtree
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[edit] Trivia
Professional actor with stage and independent film credits, including "The Orb," written and directed by Matthew Burns (Nick Mondo).
Has amateur wrestling and judo background.
Performed in high school theater with Steve Zahn.
Performed in college theater with Melissa Peterman of "Reba" fame.
