Chris Harris (wrestler)

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Chris Harris
An image of Chris Harris.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Chris Harris
Billed height 6 ft. 3 in. (191 cm)[1]
Billed weight 232 lb. (105 kg)[1]
Born December 25, 1973 (1973-12-25) (age 34)
Billed from Fort Wright, Kentucky[1]
Debut November 1994
Website http://www.wildcatchrisharris.com/

Chris Harris (born December 25, 1973) is a professional wrestler. He is most notable for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was formerly one half of the tag team America's Most Wanted along with partner James Storm. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment.[2]

Contents

[edit] World Championship Wrestling (2000-2001)

Along with several other wrestlers, including future tag team partner James Storm, Harris was signed to a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) developmental deal in October 2000. Terry Taylor proposed a country singer gimmick for him, but it was rejected by management (possibly because of similarities to the character of Jeff Jarrett). The highlight of Harris's WCW career was appearing as a fake version of the popular wrestler Sting at Halloween Havoc 2000 (this parody would be repeated in TNA in 2006[citation needed]). He wrestled on the WCW B-shows WorldWide and Saturday Night as part of R and B Security (the "Run and Bump" team) until the promotion was sold in early 2001.

[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002-2008)

On June 1, 2002, Harris was given a tryout match against his long-time independent circuit rival James Storm with the fledgling wrestling promotion TNA by Bert Prentice.[1] Both were subsequently signed to short term contracts. He wrestled in the Gauntlet for the Gold match on the first TNA pay-per-view, and was placed in a tag team with James Storm on the second pay-per-view by Bob Ryder, the creative force behind the team. Storm came up with the name "America's Most Wanted" (often shortened to AMW) for the team. They obtained their first success on September 18, 2002 by surviving a tag team Gauntlet for the Gold and defeating Ron Harris and Brian Lee to obtain the NWA World Tag Team Championship[1] and quickly became the heart of the TNA tag division.

In March and April 2003 the duo teased a split, with Storm and Harris facing off in a singles match on May 7, 2003. Storm won the match, but the partners shook hands afterwards. Harris rejected Vince Russo's offer to join his stable of degenerates, Sports Entertainment Extreme (S.E.X).

When Storm was incapacitated by the recurrence of an old shoulder injury in early 2004, Harris received a NWA World Title shot on March 17, 2004 and was defeated by then champion Jeff Jarrett. He went on to compete in a "King of the Mountain" ladder match for the title on June 2, 2004, but was again bested by Jarrett. America's Most Wanted resumed teaming together, but on August 25, 2004, James Storm was sidelined with neck and shoulder injuries, leaving Harris without a partner. Harris teamed with Elix Skipper to win an NWA Tag Team Title for an unprecedented fifth time on September 8, 2004.[3] Harris and Storm later reunited.

America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris, James Storm and Gail Kim) in TNA.
America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris, James Storm and Gail Kim) in TNA.

Harris has stated in the past that "I love TNA and plan on staying for a while".[4] On January 16, 2005 Harris became a six time NWA Tag Team Champion (along with James Storm), winning the Tag Titles from Bobby Roode and Eric Young.

Harris would win the titles a seventh time, sixth time as part of AMW, after turning heel later in 2005 and beating The Naturals on October 15, 2005. In league with Jeff Jarrett, he would semi-reprise his role as a fake Sting when he would play the Crow Sting in a Planet Jarrett retrospective of Sting's career on TNA iMPACT! on January 7, 2006.

America's Most Wanted split as a team on the December 14, 2006 edition of iMPACT! during a tag team match with LAX in a Titles vs Team match. James Storm effectively chose the outcome of the match by assaulting Chris Harris with a beer bottle allowing him to be pinned by Homicide putting an end to AMW.

On the January 11, 2007 episode of iMPACT! Harris did a (kayfabe) sit-down interview with Mike Tenay giving a strong impression his wrestling career could be over. Harris wasn't seen on television until the Against All Odds pay-per-view in which he (wearing an eye patch) went for Storm. That following week Harris did the same thing on the February 15 episode of iMPACT! and then again the next week. On the March 1, 2007 episode of iMPACT! Chris Harris claimed his vision was at 30% and vowed revenge on James Storm. At Lockdown, Harris lost to Storm in Six Sides of Steel match, in which both men were blindfolded. It was revealed his vision had been restored, and Harris faced off against Storm at Sacrifice, in a Texas Death match, where Harris came out the victor. After this, Chris Harris showed up two weeks straight to assist Rhino and Hector Guerrero with LAX. Harris entered into Slammiversary as the last contestant in the King of the Mountain Match, only to lose to Kurt Angle. Harris would feud with Christian Cage, losing to him by roll-up at Victory Road after Dustin Rhodes nailed him in the back.

The Harris/Rhodes feud continued for a few weeks with Rhodes attacking Harris during his matches on iMPACT! until a match was made at Hard Justice, when Harris defeated "Black Reign" Dustin Rhodes via DQ and at No Surrender Harris defeated Black Reign in a No Disqualification match by pinning Reign with an inside cradle. After that Harris was given a gimmick where he would complain about the way the company handled him and was used sporadically on iMPACT!s and PPV's. On January 11, 2008 TNA announced on its website that Harris had been released from the company. Harris was alleged to have been very unhappy with his use in TNA since the AMW split.

[edit] Independents

Harris also works regularly for NWA Cyberspace along with James Storm in the Tag Team division and as a singles Heavyweight. On November 19, in a match that was booked before AMW's heel turn, Harris was forced to fight against Jeff Jarrett for the NWA Cyberspace Heavyweight Championship (Though Jarrett was also NWA World Heavyweight Champion, that title was not on the line). Jarrett let Harris beat him with a Fingerpoke of Doom-style match, but NWA CyberSpace Commissioner Jasmin St. Claire immediately booked them for a three-way dance immediately with fellow Cyberspace and TNA wrestler "The Monster" Abyss. Abyss beat both and won the Cyberspace Heavyweight Championship.

[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment (2008-)

Harris in WWE.
Harris in WWE.

Harris announced on his official website that he had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on January 29, 2008.[2] Harris was pinned by Shelton Benjamin in his WWE debut on March 11 in a dark match. Chris Harris is currently training in Florida Championship Wrestling.[5]

[edit] Personal life

In 1999, he married his girlfriend of four years, Susan.[6]

That same year, he appeared in the video for the Clay Davidson song "I Can’t Lie to Me".[7]

[edit] In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • Wildcat
  • Theme Music
    • Guilty - Dale Oliver
    • We Find the Defendants Guilty (cover of "More Human than Human") - Dale Oliver

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e 'Wildcat' Chris Harris' Biography. The Official Wildcat Website. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  2. ^ a b Chris Harris to WWE. The Official Chris Harris Website (2008-01-29). Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  3. ^ http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/wiamain.htm - Wrestling Information Archive
  4. ^ http://www.cagematch.de/_/features/interviews/english/chrisharris.shtml - Fansite Interview
  5. ^ TNA News: The Latest On Chris Harris & WWE Inside Here, & More
  6. ^ Harris and Susan have been married for two years. The two met through a friend of a friend four years ago.
  7. ^ While wrestling in Nashville in July, Harris made a country music video with rising star Clay Davidson, titled "I Can't Lie to Me."

[edit] External links

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