William Welch
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- For other persons named William Welch, see William Welch (disambiguation).
| William Welch | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Iron Mike Ehrhardt The Blunatic The Messiah |
| Billed height | 6 ft |
| Billed weight | 220 lb |
| Born | December 18, 1977 Detroit, Michigan |
| Resides | Rosemead, California Sugar Land, Texas |
| Trained by | Carlito Montana Slam U Training School |
William Welch (born December 18, 1977 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Messiah.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Welch's professional career began modestly after being trained at the Slam U Wrestling Gym in Sun Valley, California. He worked for the school's parent company the Slammers Wrestling Federation for a time, losing his first professional match there to El Sprito, working under the name Iron Mike Erhardt.
Recognition came for Welch after he joined Xtreme Pro Wrestling. Working his way up the card with his new gimmick, Messiah, he eventually became a main eventer who wrestled with well known former Extreme Championship Wrestling stars like Sabu, Chris Candido and New Jack.
While XPW folded, Messiah continued to compete in the CZW promotion. Messiah has also competed in IWA Mid-South, Pro Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW), as well as other promotions. He has competed in Italy twice, as well as been in a world wide video game. (Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood for Xbox and PlayStation 2) He has held the CZW Heavyweight Title three times; having a nearly one-year long run with the belt from March 6, 2004 to February 5, 2005. After losing the CZW Heavyweight Title to Ruckus in February of 2005, The Messiah slowly faded away from CZW and now appears only on special occasions and has a limited schedule. His status in other promotions remains unknown.
[edit] Finishing and signature moves
- Fall From Grace (Inverted Death Valley driver)
- Godsmack (Elevated Cutter)
- Carlito's Way (Airplane spin into a stunner, named after his trainer Carlito Montana)
- Cross Factor (Sitout facebuster)
- Super Cross Factor (Top rope sitout facebuster)
- Armdrag into an armbar
- Belly to belly suplex into the turnbuckle
- Elevated boston crab with knee to back
- Facewash
- Figure four leglock
- Headscissors into a DDT
- Leg lariat
- Lionsault
- Spinning side slam
- Sugar hold
- Suicide senton
- Sunset flip powerbomb
- Various powerslams
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
-
- Won from Adam Flash on October 12, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Lost to Nick Mondo on February 8, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
-
- Won from Justice Pain on December 14, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Lost to John Zandig on October 25, 2003 in Pistoia, Italy
-
- CZW World Heavyweight Championship (3)
- Won from John Zandig on March 6, 2004 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Lost to Ruckus on February 5, 2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Insane Wrestling Federation
-
- 1-time IWF Tag Team Champion (with Adam Flash)
- Millennium Pro Wrestling
-
- MPW Heavyweight Championship
- Won from Tech IX on March 23, 2002 in West Hills, California, USA (final champion)
-
- NWA Florida King of the Deathmatch Championship
- Defeated Madman Pondo, Prime Evil and Chaos on November 30, 2002 in Pinellas Park, Florida, USA (first and final champion)
- Pacific Championship Wrestling
-
- PCW Heavyweight Championship
- Defeated B-Boy on January 25, 2003 in City of Industry, California, USA
- Stripped on March 2, 2004 for being unable to defend
-
- Won from Supreme on November 11, 2000 in Reseda, California, USA
- Vacated on May 26, 2001 in Los Angeles, California, USA (won XPW World title)
[edit] Personal life
On August 1, 2002, he was attacked by two unknown assailants in his home, who subsequently cut off his right thumb. Welch's former promoter, Rob Black was mentioned on an episode of America's Most Wanted about the incident. Since the episode's airing, nobody has been accused or arrested by police in connection to the attack and the case remains unsolved.
Welch was good friends with Gary Yap of EPIC Pro Wrestling and Welch ended up moving in and living with Yap and Renell (Yap's wife and also a part-time on-screen character in EPIC under the alias, "Hailey"). Eventually, Rennell broke up with Yap and she married Welch, her current husband.[1]
Welch also had a relationship with adult film star Kristi Myst.
