Bill DeMott

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Bill DeMott
Statistics
Ring name(s) Crash the Terminator
The Man of Question
Hugh Morrus
Hugh G. Rection
General Rection
Captain Rection
Bill DeMott
The Laughing Man
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Billed weight 280 lb (127 kg)
Born November 10, 1966
Titusville, Florida
Trained by Johnny Rodz
Debut 1990
Retired 2003 / currently semi-retired

William (Bill) DeMott (born November 10, 1966 in Titusville, Florida) is a (semi)-retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling as Hugh Morrus.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Pre-WCW

DeMott was trained by Johnny Rodz in his New York wrestling school beginning in 1989. From there he began working at small independent promotions using his real name. In 1992 DeMott began wrestling for the American Wrestling Federation and started using the name Crash The Terminator. Under this name he found some success, first capturing the AWF Heavyweight title from Steve Strong in Puerto Rico, before moving on to Japanese promotion W*ING and winning their tag team championship with Mr. Pogo. While competing in W*ING (now in 1993), Demott won a 16 man tournament to be crowned their heavyweight champion.

When DeMott returned to the United States, he wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling for a short time, before moving on to Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling where once again he won a heavyweight championship, this time outlasting a number of competitors in a battle royal to get it.

[edit] World Championship Wrestling

In 1995, DeMott was signed to a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) contract at the behest of Kevin Sullivan who had been impressed by him. He debuted in dark matches as The Man of Question and The Laughing Man, a strange gimmick that saw him wearing a singlet covered in question marks and laughing a lot. He made his television debut using the same gimmick, but with the name Hugh Morrus (a pun on the word "humorous") and he would stay with that for most of his WCW career. The most prominent thing about Hugh Morrus was his finisher, a moonsault dubbed No Laughing Matter. Seeing the nearly 300 pound man sail through the air impressed a number of people (both in the crowd and backstage) and Hugh was soon pushed as a mid-card face, usually in tag team matches.

In 1996 Morrus turned heel by joining the Dungeon of Doom in their quest to end Hulkamania. Unfortunately, he joined at a time of flux in WCW as the Dungeon of Doom was breaking up and Hogan was making a heel turn as well. Upon the dissolution of the Dungeon Of Doom, Morrus was relegated to a lower spot on the card than even before joining them. As a curtain jerker he made history on September 22, 1997, when he became the first wrestler to lose a televised match to Bill Goldberg.

After this, still using the Hugh Morrus gimmick, he changed tracks completely. Now joining the growing Hardcore wrestling style in WCW he joined Jimmy Harts "First Family" stable and seemed that he (along with the rest of the group) were on their way to a major push when they secured a Pay-Per-View win over their Revolution rivals until the group suddenly broke up.

DeMott took some time off from WCW, at this time, returning in early 2000 utilizing the same name and ring attire, but as an angrier version of himself, squashing a number of wrestlers. The angry Morrus gimmick came to a halt when Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff took over and promised to take WCW in a "new direction."

After getting on Russo's bad side (in kayfabe) Morrus was fired from his "New Blood" stable along with a number of other wrestlers. These ex-New Blood members (including Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Booker T) formed the comedy stable Misfits In Action, all adopting new military-themed names for themselves. Morrus, the leader, re-christened himself General Hugh G. Rection (a pun on the term "huge erection"), and lead the group in a feud against the Filthy Animals.

The group's comedic nature and the workrate of some of the wrestlers made the group immediate favorites with fans. Upon the introduction of the heel "Team Canada", the Misfits In Action became Made In America, though much of the gimmick remained the same. Rection feuded with Team Canada leader Lance Storm, beating him and Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a handicap match at Halloween Havoc.

After his feud with Lance Storm, the next night on WCW Monday Nitro, as DeMott was in the ring speaking to the fans, the WCW locker room emptied and many wrestlers from backstage stood on the entrance way clapping for DeMott, including Bill Goldberg grabbing the microphone and saying "Hey, Goldberg's streak had to start somewhere my friend", in perhaps one of DeMott's greatest achievements in wrestling, he gained respect from his peers.

The Misfits In Action eventually broke up and DeMott took the name Hugh Morrus again for a feud with former members of the stable. Morrus competed in WCW's U.S. Championship division until the World Wrestling Federation's buyout of WCW.

[edit] World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

When WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment (WWF/WWE) Morrus signed a deal with the WWF and became part of The Invasion angle. When that angle ended, Morrus was (kayfabe) fired by Vince McMahon until Ric Flair was able to "save his job" and get him drafted over to the SmackDown! brand. Morrus competed on SmackDown! until he was (legitly) seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and had to take a leave from the ring. During his time away he became a trainer for the third season of Tough Enough, WWEs reality television show.

When he sufficiently healed, Morrus made his return to SmackDown!, billing himself under his real name, Bill DeMott. After his return, he was given a push that had him squashing various wrestlers, including Funaki, Shannon Moore, Chuck Palumbo and even defeating A-Train and Rikishi. However, this monster heel push did not last long and he made a face turn and started telling knock-knock jokes. The gimmick didn't get over and he was demoted to Velocity, but his huge push was kept intact. Soon after he retired from in ring action at this point, citing years of knee injuries, and began working as a color commentator on the Velocity show until Tough Enough 4, where he once again became a trainer.

[edit] Deep South Wrestling

When Tough Enough 4 wrapped production, DeMott did not make a return to Velocity, instead becoming a full time trainer for WWE. While training wrestlers in WWE's Deep South Wrestling "farm territory" he briefly returned to in-ring action to team with The Freakin' Deacon to face The Gymini. DeMott was released from his WWE contract on January 20, 2007 with Tom Prichard taking his place as trainer.

[edit] Personal Life

DeMott is married and has two daughters

[edit] Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Wrestlers trained by DeMott

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • Americas Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico)
  • AWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • HWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Raven
  • Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling
  • PCW Championship (1 time)first ever
  • Ranked #450 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
  • Wrestling International New Generations
  • W*ING Championship (1 time)
  • W*ING Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mr. Pogo

[edit] References

[edit] External links