Dave Taylor (wrestler)

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David Taylor
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Dave Taylor David Taylor "Squire" David Taylor
Billed height	191 cm (6 ft. 3 in.)
Billed weight	116 kg (256 lb.)
Born	May 1, 1957 (1957-05-01) (age 51)^[1] Yorkshire, England^[1]
Billed from	Yorkshire
Trained by	Eric and Jack Taylor^[1]
Debut	Late 1970s^[1]

David Steven Taylor^{[citation needed]} (born May 1, 1957)^[1] is a English professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He also worked as a trainer for the Deep South Wrestling (DSW) promotion, a subsidiary of WWE.

1 Career
- 1.1 World Championship Wrestling
- 1.2 World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-2008)
2 In wrestling
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 Personal life
5 References
6 External links

Career

A third-generation wrestler, Taylor was trained by his father Jack and grandfather Eric. After winning several awards as an amateur wrestler, Taylor made his professional debut in the late 1970s under the ring name Dave "Rocky" Taylor.

Taylor eventually joined All Star Promotions, and defeated Dave Finlay for the All-Star British Heavyweight Championship in King's Lynn on June 4, 1991^[2]. He held the title for two years before losing to Tony St. Clair on May 4, 1993 in Croydon. After St. Claire vacated the title in 1995, Taylor entered a tournament for the belt, and defeated Marty Jones in the tournament final in August 1995 in Croydon. His second reign lasted until 1996, when he was defeated by Marty Jones in Croydon.

In the early 1990s, Taylor began wrestling for the German Catch Wrestling Association. On December 21, 1991 in Bremen, he and Chris Benoit defeated Franz Schumann and Miles Zrno for the CWA World Tag Team Championship^[3]. They vacated the titles in June 1992 after Taylor suffered an injury and Benoit left the CWA to compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Taylor won the CWA Tag Team Championship on a second occasion on July 18, 1993, teaming with Miles Zrno to defeat Larry Cameron and Mad Bull Buster. Cameron and Buster regained the titles on October 24, 1993 in Hanover^[3].

In the mid 1990s, Taylor travelled to the United States of America and joined the Atlanta, Georgia-based World Championship Wrestling promotion. Taylor, renamed Squire David Taylor, formed a stable with Lord Steven Regal and Earl Robert Eaton known as the Blue Bloods. After Eaton (an American) left the group, Taylor and Regal feuded with him. Taylor continued to team with Regal until Regal was fired from WCW in 2000, at which point Taylor also left the promotion.

In 2001, Taylor joined the World Wrestling Federation, acting as a trainer and wrestler in the Heartland Wrestling Association, a subsidiary of the WWF. Taylor eventually left the WWF after they asked him to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the HWA was located.

In May 2002, Taylor, William (formerly Steven) Regal and Dave Finlay opened the Atlantan Blue Bloods Wrestling Academy, a professional wrestling school.

On April 7, 2004 Taylor made an appearance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a mentor/coach of Team Britain during the TNA 2004 America's X-Cup Tournament.

In February 2005, Taylor came back to the UK for a three weeks with Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling where he responded to some comments made by "The Highlander From Hell" Drew McDonald.

World Championship Wrestling

On February 26, 1998, David Taylor went up against "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith but failed to pick up the win following a Running powerslam from the Bulldog.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-2008)

Taylor was hired by WWE in January 2006 to train wrestling students at Deep South Wrestling in McDonough, Georgia. On March 23, 2006, Taylor returned to the ring in DSW to once again team with William Regal.

On the October 20, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Regal announced that Taylor would be joining him on the brand. The two debuted the same night, get a dominating victory over Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki. Though the pair reformed their previous tag team, Regal and Taylor would not reuse the Blue Bloods gimmick, instead portraying themselves as sadistic fighters. The team was quickly put into jeopardy in their second match together when Taylor suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. Taylor took a more relaxed role for a couple of weeks as a corner man for Regal and only wrestled a few short house show matches. Taylor would quickly heal from his injury and the pair went on to feud with Paul London and Brian Kendrick in the hunt for the WWE Tag Team Championship. After defeating London and Kendrick on several occasions, at Armageddon 2006, they would go into a Tag Team match which would turn out as 4-way ladder match adding MNM and the Hardy Boyz, with London and Kendrick coming out on top.

After WrestleMania 23, Regal and Taylor began a feud with Kane when after a match between Kane and Dave Taylor, Taylor and Regal attacked Kane. The Boogeyman soon joined the feud as Kane's tag team partner. On the May 25 edition of Smackdown!, Regal and Taylor competed in a number 1 contenders match for the WWE Tag Team Championship against Brian Kendrick and Paul London which they lost when Deuce 'N Domino interfered, making both competitors the number 1 contenders. This led to a triple threat match the next week on SmackDown!, where Deuce 'N Domino retained. Taylor and Regal's tag team would come to an end on June 17 when Regal was drafted to RAW during the Supplemental Draft.

Following Regal's departure, Taylor was absent from SmackDown! for several weeks and began teaming with Paul Burchill at house shows and dark matches. Since then, Taylor has only competed on SmackDown! sparingly, competing in a 20-Man Battle Royal for the then-vacant World Heavyweight Championship and losing a match to former rival Kane. Taylor brought Drew McIntyre to SmackDown! in October 2007 and acted as his mentor, but McIntyre would only make a few appearances before moving to the RAW brand in January 2008. Following McIntyre's move, Taylor went on a leave of absence from WWE television and was eventually released from his WWE contract on April 28, 2008.^[4]