Charlie Haas
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| Charlie Haas | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Charlie Haas R.C. Haas |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Billed weight | 249 lb (113 kg) |
| Born | March 27, 1972 Edmond, Oklahoma |
| Resides | Dallas, Texas |
| Billed from | Dallas, Texas |
| Trained by | Jim Kettner John Smith "Iron" Mike Sharpe Vince Sylva Jim Rogers |
| Debut | 1996 |
Charles David (Charlie) Haas Jr. (born on March 27, 1972), is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its RAW brand as one half of The World's Greatest Tag Team with Shelton Benjamin.
Contents |
Early Career
Haas often teamed with his brother Russ Haas in Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). After Russ died in December 2001, Charlie began using the name RC (Russ-Charlie, as a sign of dedication and loyalty to his late brother) Haas before being called up to the WWE roster.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2002-2005)
After working in Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), Haas debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment on the December 26, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as a heel along with Shelton Benjamin as "Team Angle". The tag team was the "contingency plan" of Paul Heyman, and were intended to help WWE Champion Kurt Angle retain his title, attacking Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar in an attempt to weaken them. Angle eventually fired Team Angle after he turned face during that time and they began to question his leadership. The duo then became the "(Self-Proclaimed) World's Greatest Tag-Team". The team won the WWE Tag Team Championship on two occasions before being separated when Benjamin was moved from SmackDown! to RAW in the 2004 WWE draft.
With Benjamin gone, Haas turned face and teamed up with Rico and his valet Miss Jackie to win the tag team titles once again. The team became a dominating force, with the strait-laced Haas clashing with the campy, charismatic Rico. After Rico was released, Haas struck out on his own again, accompanied by Miss Jackie. Haas would come out the loser in a match against Luther Reigns at the The Great American Bash 2004.
Haas was later involved in an angle in which he was in a love triangle with Miss Jackie (acknowledged on air as his fiancée) and Dawn Marie. The story culminated when Haas served as the referee in a match at Armageddon 2004 between the two women. After the match, Haas left both women (for kayfabe purposes; his off-screen relationship with Miss Jackie continued). Then he formed a tag team with Hardcore Holly. They had limited success on SmackDown!, including a feud with MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championships, but never won the titles.
On July 6, 2005, Haas was released by World Wrestling Entertainment along with his wife, Jackie Gayda.
Jersery All Pro Wrestling
He returned to Jersey All Pro Wrestling that same month, and began a feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship, Jay Lethal. On September 10 at JAPW Haas of Pain, Lethal defeated Haas to retain his title.
He won the Natural Heavyweight Championship at Ballpark Brawl V on August 13, 2005, defeating then-champion Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin. He successfully defended the title the next night at Ballpark Brawl VI against Harry Smith with Mick Foley as a referee. He was stripped of this title when he returned to WWE, and has thus far been the only man to successfully defend the title.
During this time, Haas also competed in the 2006 ECWA Super 8 Tournament, getting into the finals but then losing to Davey Richards.
Texas
In November 2005, Haas became the temporary head trainer for Professional Championship Wrestling in Arlington, alongside TNA superstar Lance Hoyt. Haas made his PCW debut in January defeating Lance Hoyt. He also wrestled more matches with PCW wrestlers Mike Foxx, Mace Malone, Eddie Atlas and Stephen Murphy, just days before his return to WWE in April.
Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-present)
In late December 2005 Charlie Haas re-signed with WWE, returning to OVW on February 22, 2006. He returned to WWE television on the April 17, 2006 episode of RAW as Rob Van Dam's handpicked opponent for his former partner, Shelton Benjamin. Haas defeated Benjamin in the ensuing match.
Haas would continue to wrestle on the lower midcard spot, often competing on Heat as well as RAW sometimes.
On the June 5, 2006 edition of RAW, Charlie Haas inadvertently knocked Lilian Garcia off the ring apron as he was entering the ring. It was announced on WWE.com that as a result, Lilian suffered a sprained wrist. It was noticed that he received no heat over this as everyone understood it was an accident (it should be noted that the injury was not a work). The result was a feud with Lilian's storyline love interest Viscera, and Haas's second heel run of his career in the WWE. Haas would make advances towards Lilian, at one point forcefully kissing her and then dropping her to the ground. Haas and Viscera continued to fight for Lilian's affection in the ring, until Lilian stated to the both of them that she wants to be "just friends." Haas gave Viscera an eye rake in anger, and a blinded Viscera accidentally gave Lilian a Samoan drop. Though it was unintentional, when both Charlie and Viscera had seen what had happened to their now former love interest, they simply had a laugh about it. After that, Viscera and Charlie became a tag team, usually found competing on Heat in random matches until splitting in December 2006.
World's Greatest Tag Team reunion
After Shelton Benjamin won a match against Super Crazy on the December 4, 2006 edition of RAW, Haas came out to celebrate his win with a bewildered Benjamin. Haas and Benjamin announced the return of the World's Greatest Tag Team on the December 11, 2006 edition of RAW and they defeated The Highlanders in their return match. They have recently started a feud with Cryme Tyme. Since the reunion of the World's Greatest Tag Team, Haas has begun a new gimmick where he looks and acts "wiggerish". Examples of this: He uses ebonics in promos, does the Westside gang sign in his entrance (despite being from Oklahoma), wore a Bloods bandana in at least one match, and as recent as January 29, 2007, made his hair into cornrows. However, this minor gimmick has been quickly discarded and Haas has reverted back to his original look from his first run in the WWE, albeit with blonde hair. Benjamin & Haas now compete regularly on RAW and Heat, sometimes in singles matches.
In Wrestling
Finishing and signature moves
-
- Haastile Takeover (Scoop lift dropped into an inverted DDT)
- Haas of Pain (Modified inverted reverse figure four leglock)
- Haasbreaker (Texas cloverleaf set-up dropped into a catapult double knee backbreaker)
- Total Haastility (Olympic slam) - Independent circuit
- Exploder suplex
- German suplex pin / Release German suplex
- Northern Lights suplex
- Overhead belly to belly suplex
- Double underhook suplex
- Moonsault
- Missile dropkick
Managers
Theme music
Haas debuted new theme music in May 2006, a song performed by Eric & The Hostiles entitled Pay The Price. It was formerly used as the song for The Great American Bash 2005 pay-per-view, but WWE composer Jim Johnston changed the drum beat for Haas's theme. Additionally, it was offered as a bonus track on the WWE Wreckless Intent album as an iTunes exclusive download, to those who purchased the full album via that outlet's music store.
In JAPW and possibly other indies, Haas has used an acoustic version of TNT by AC/DC as his theme music.
Championships and accomplishments
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times - 2 with Shelton Benjamin and 1 with Rico)
- Ballpark Brawl
- Natural Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Combat Zone Wrestling
- CZW World Tag Team Championship (1 time, with Russ Haas)
- East Coast Wrestling Association
- ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time, with Russ Haas)
- ECWA Hall of Fame inductee (2004)
- Heartland Wrestling Association
- HWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Jersey All Pro Wrestling
- JAPW Tag Team Championship (2 times, with Russ Haas)
- Memphis Championship Wrestling
- MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (3 times, with Russ Haas)
- Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling
- PCW (Pennsylvania) Tag Team Championship (1 time, with Russ Haas)
- Phoenix Championship Wrestling
- 2002 PCW Russ Haas Memorial Tag Team Tournament winner (with Nova)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI 2003 Tag Team of the Year Award (with Shelton Benjamin)
Personal life
Charlie writes "RUSS" on his wrist tape before every match to pay tribute to his late brother who was born exactly 2 years after Charlie.
Charlie Haas' grandfather was Hugh Devore, former Houston Oilers assistant coach/Notre Dame head coach.
On June 10, 2005, Haas married Jackie Gayda. The best man was Shelton Benjamin and the bridesmaids were Victoria and Dawn Marie.
On December 14, 2006 at 3:01 a.m., Haas' wife Jackie gave birth to a daughter. Kayla Jacquelyn Haas weighed 6 pounds 7-ounces, and was 19.5-inches long.
According to Charlie via the Q&A section on his website, he is a devout Christian. [1]
