Glenn Gilberti

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Glenn Gilberti
An image of Glenn Gilberti.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Disco Inferno
Disqo
Glenn Gilberti
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight 238 lb (108 kg)[1]
Born November 12, 1968 (1968-11-12) (age 39)[1][2]
Brooklyn, New York[2][1]
Resides Marietta, Georgia[2]
Billed from Brooklyn, New York
Trained by Steve Lawler[2]
Debut November 20, 1991[2]

Glenn Gilberti (born November 12, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling as Disco Inferno.[3] He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.

Disco was a mostly lower card wrestler during his six-year tenure with WCW, but achieved some success in the form of championships. He was a 1 time Cruiserweight Champion,[4][5] 2 time Television Champion[6][5] and 1 time World Tag Team Champion[7][5] with Alex Wright, as part of the tag team Boogie Knights.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Gilbertti started wrestling in 1991 wrestling his first match on November 20, 1991.[2] He wrestled on the Georgia independent circuit, where he was best known for his time with Great Championship Wrestling (GCW) where he won several titles. He also had short stints with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1992.[1]

[edit] World Championship Wrestling (1995-2001)

[edit] Mid-Card Division (1995-1996)

Gilbertti made his name in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Disco Inferno. He annoyed the audience with his disco dancer character, which included dancing on the way to the ring and during his matches, the punchline being that fans would chant "Disco sucks!".

Gillbertti signed a contract with WCW in 1995 and debuted later that same year. He gradually rose to mid-card status as a tweener, with his gimmick being that he would forget how to apply his finishing hold, a standing figure-four leglock. Often, he would bring a cheat sheet with a diagram on how to apply the hold to the ring. He mostly competed in WCW's mid-card division shows including Saturday Night, Main Event and WorldWide.[1] Inferno wrestled on many editions of Main Event before pay-per-view events against superstars such as Joey Maggs[8] and Eddie Guerrero[9]. He also competed on January 23, 1996 edition of Clash of the Champions in a losing effort to Kevin Sullivan.[10] Inferno made his pay-per-view debut at Slamboree 1996: Lord of the Ring in a tag team contest where he teamed up with his future partner Alex Wright against Dick Slater and Earl Robert Eaton.[11]

[edit] Babyface push (1996-1997)

Inferno started making a push in the cruiserweight division by the mid-1996. He began a feud with Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko and unsuccessfully challenged him for the title at Bash at the Beach 1996.[12] At World War 3 1996, he participated in the three ring, 60 man battle royal with the winner receiving a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The Giant went on to win the battle royal.[13] Inferno was injured in early 1997 and he took some time off before returning in September. His injury was mentioned after Disco refused to job to Jacquelyn because she was a woman.[2]

He feuded with Alex Wright who began dancing before his entrance to mock Disco. The two became arch-dancing-rivals. Disco was booked to win the WCW World Television Championship from Wright on September 22 edition of Nitro.[2][1][14][6] He lost to Jacquelyn at Halloween Havoc 1997.[15] He engaged in a feud with Perry Saturn after losing the Television title to Saturn on November 3 edition of Nitro.[16] Disco lost to Saturn in a rematch at World War 3 1997,[17] before finally regaining the title from Saturn in a rematch on December 8 edition of Nitro for his second WCW World Television Championship.[2][1][6][18] Four weeks later, he dropped the title to Booker T.[2][1][19]

[edit] Heel run (1998-2001)

After having two reigns as WCW World Television Champion, Disco once again became a jobber and a mid-carder in the cruiserweight division.[1] He defeated La Parka at SuperBrawl VIII.[20] He patched up things with former rival Alex Wright, thus turning heel in the process and the duo formed a tag team of dancers, known as Dancing Fools. The team was used for comedy and often danced before their entrance. They were also joined by a dancing partner Tokyo Magnum.[1] At Bash at the Beach 1998, Inferno lost a match to Konnan.[21] Inferno and Wright feuded with teams such as The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock),[22] and The British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart.[23]

After not getting any success, Inferno and Wright split and began focusing on their singles careers again. Inferno started a feud with Juventud Guerrera and defeated him at Halloween Havoc 1998 to become the #1 contender to the Cruiserweight Championship.[1][24] He earned his title shot later that night against champion Billy Kidman but lost the match.[24] At World War 3 1998, he participated in a three ring, 60-man battle royal with the winner getting a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade 1998 but the battle royal was won by Kevin Nash.[25] Inferno became allied with, but never actually joined the nWo Wolfpac.[2][1] Around that time, Disco feuded with the likes of Booker T,[26] Konnan,[27] Buff Bagwell[28] and Ernest Miller.[29][1]

Inferno won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship from Psychosis on October 4, 1999 edition of Nitro.[30][31][1] He entered a program with Lash LeRoux and had a successful title defense against LeRoux at Halloween Havoc 1999.[1][32] He was joined by a new ally Tony Marinara. Inferno dropped the Cruiserweight title to Evan Karagias at Mayhem 1999 after Inferno accidentally attacked Marinara.[1][33] Marinara joined The Mamalukes (Big Vito and Johnny the Bull) while Disco was joined by LeRoux. At Starrcade 1999, Disco and LeRoux lost to Mamalukes after Disco accidentally attacked LeRoux.[1][34] Disco aligned with Mamalukes and became an enforcer for the duo.[1]

In spring 2000, Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo rebooted WCW and New Blood was formed. The Mamalukes became members of New Blood and Disco signed with The Mamalukes. However, he left the group and joined Filthy Animals.[1] He called himself Disqo, a hip-hop wannabe. Animals feuded with Misfits in Action and Disco unsuccessfully challenged Lieutenant Loco for the Cruiserweight Championship at The Great American Bash 2000.[1][35] At New Blood Rising, Disco refereed a fatal four way match for the World Tag Team Championship, which KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) won.[1][36] At Fall Brawl 2000, Filthy Animals fought Natural Born Thrillers to a no contest in an elimination match.[1][37] During the match, Disco turned on Konnan by hitting him a Chartbuster and began feuding with both Animals and Thrillers.[1]

Disco reunited with both former rival and tag team partner, Alex Wright as Boogie Knights. At Halloween Havoc 2000, they challenged for the World Tag Team Championship in a triangle match but ended up losing the match.[1][38] They were scheduled to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship at Millennium Germany on November 16, but Disqo was legitimately injured. General Rection substituted for Disqo and then won the tag titles for Disqo and Wright.[39][7] However, they would drop the titles afterwards. Disqo remained with the company until it was purchased by World Wrestling Federation in April 2001.

[edit] After WCW

In the late 1990s into the early 2000s, he also appeared on WCW Announcer Mark Madden's sports radio talk show on ESPN Radio 1250 in Pittsburgh as "Mr. Friday Afternoon". Around this time he was also a commentator (still using the Disco Inferno name) for World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA).[1] At Inception, he participated in a battle royal which was won by Buff Bagwell. It was a quarter-final match of the tournament for the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship.[2][40]In 2003, he briefly returned to WWA under his "Disco Inferno" gimmick. On May 23, Disco faced WWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting for the title but lost the match.[2][41]

In 2005, he went back to working the independent circuit in Georgia and Minnesota. He also wrestled for the Southern Wrestling Alliance and Vince Russo's Ring Of Glory.[1]

[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003-2004, -Present)

[edit] Sports Entertainment Xtreme (2003)

Gilbertti then went on to join Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), changing his alias to his real name.[2] He was a member of Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X.) and even became their leader near the end of that angle.[2][42] On May 7, 2003 PPV, he won an Anarchy Battle Royal to become the #1 contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[2][43] The next month, he earned his title shot against the champion Jeff Jarrett but lost the match.[2][44]

[edit] New York Connection (2003-2004)

After S.E.X. disbanded, Gilbertti formed New York Connection (N.Y.C) with Simon Diamond, David Young, Johnny Swinger and Trinity.[2] On November 26 PPV, Gilbertti teamed up with Diamond and Swinger in a 6-man tag team match to face 3Live Kru (Konnan, Ron Killings and B.G. James) for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship.[2][45] When their stable fell apart, Gilbertti began teaming with Young while Diamond and Swinger formed a separate team. In the late 2004, Gilbertti reunited with Swinger and the duo teamed up together at Turning Point 2004 in a losing effort to Pat Kenney and Johnny B. Badd.[2][7] Gilbertti left TNA and returned to independent circuit.

On October 18, 2007 edition of iMPACT!, Glenn Gilberti appeared in a taped interview segment with Mike Tenay as Disco Inferno and talked about his runs as WCW Television Champion and a TNA wrestler, and a comeback to TNA as Disco Inferno. He returned later in the show, losing in a squash match to Abyss.[2][46] Gilbertti is now part of TNA's booking and creative team and also writes columns and does audio features on Wrestlezone.com.

[edit] 2008

Most recently,On April 19, 2008 Gilberti attended an Armageddon Convention in Wellington, New Zealand in which he won the IPW Armageddon Cup. He also appeared at the Christchurch convention where he lost the cup on April 26, 2008. He also wrestled a tag team match on April 27, 2008 at the same convention. His partner was IPW Champion "The Deal" Dal Knox

[edit] Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Nicknames
  • The Boogie Man - in WCW while as a part of the Dancing Fools
  • Hip-Hop Inferno - in WCW while wrestling as Disqo
  • The Brooklyn Stud - in TNA while as a part of the New York Connection

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • Great Championship Wrestling
  • GCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[47]
  • GCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Swinger[48]
  • GCW Television Championship (3 times)[49]
  • GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[50]
  • MEWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • North Georgia Wrestling Association
  • NGWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Palmetto Pride Championship Wrestling
  • PPCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Swiss Wrestling Federation
  • SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Other Titles
  • HPW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • IPW Armageddon Cup (won at Armageddon Wellington in New Zealand as part of an Impact Rumble (battle royal))

[edit] Personal life

In 1986, he was a delivery driver for Domino's Pizza. He had a "heel" character back then he called, "The Mongoose"

In 2007 he was arrested in connection with a poker game run in the basement of a house on Nesbit Ridge Drive in Roswell, Georgia.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Glenn Gillbertti Bio. Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Glen Gilberti Profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  3. ^ a b Reyes, Elaine. "Second Gambling Bust Nets Judge", WXIA-TV Atlanta, 2007-4-12. Retrieved on 2007-10-19. 
  4. ^ a b WWE Cruiserweight Championship official title history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
  5. ^ a b c d Lopez, Richard (2008-05-18). Disco Inferno's Title History. Blogger. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  6. ^ a b c d N.W.A./W.C.W. World Television Title. The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
  7. ^ a b c d W.C.W. World Tag Team Title. The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
  8. ^ Fall Brawl 1995: WarGames results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. “Disco Inferno pinned Joey Maggs”
  9. ^ Halloween Havoc 1995 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. “Eddie Guerrero pinned Disco Inferno”
  10. ^ Clash of the Champions XXXII results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. “Kevin Sullivan pinned Disco Inferno”
  11. ^ Slamboree 1996: Lord of the Ring results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. “Dick Slater & Bobby Eaton beat Disco Inferno & Alex Wright”
  12. ^ Bash at the Beach 1996 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. “WCW Cruiserweight Champ Dean Malenko pinned Disco Inferno”
  13. ^ World War 3 1996 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. “The Giant won a "three ring battle royal"”
  14. ^ WCW Nitro: September 22, 1997. The Other Arena. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “ALEX WRIGHT vs. DISCO INFERNO. Disco gets the upset win and becomes the new WCW World Television Champion.”
  15. ^ Halloween Havoc 1997 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Jacquelyn pinned Disco Inferno”
  16. ^ WCW Nitro: November 3, 1997. The Other Arena. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “DISCO INFERNO vs. PERRY SATURN. Saturn, supporting a heavy knee brace under his pants, beats Disco for the WCW Television Title.”
  17. ^ World War 3 1997 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “WCW TV Champ Perry Saturn pinned Disco Inferno”
  18. ^ WCW Nitro: December 8, 1997. The Other Arena. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “DISCO INFERNO vs. SATURN. Disco nails the Chartbuster out of nowhere and covers for the upset win. New WCW Television Champion!”
  19. ^ WCW Nitro: December 29, 1997. The Other Arena. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “DISCO INFERNO vs. BOOKER T. Booker T beats Disco to win the WCW TV Title.”
  20. ^ SuperBrawl VIII results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Disco Inferno pinned La Parka”
  21. ^ Bash at the Beach 1998 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Konnan beat Disco Inferno”
  22. ^ Road Wild 1998 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Public Enemy beat Disco Inferno & Alex Wright”
  23. ^ Fall Brawl 1998: WarGames results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Davey Smith & Jim Neidhart beat Disco Inferno & Alex Wright”
  24. ^ a b Halloween Havoc 1998 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Disco Inferno pinned Juventud Guerrera. WCW Cruiserweight Champ Billy Kidman pinned Disco Inferno”
  25. ^ World War 3 1998 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Kevin Nash won a "three ring battle royal"”
  26. ^ SuperBrawl IX results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Booker T pinned Disco Inferno”
  27. ^ Spring Stampede 1999 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Konnan pinned Disco Inferno”
  28. ^ The Great American Bash 1999 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Buff Bagwell pinned Disco Inferno”
  29. ^ Bash at the Beach 1999 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Ernest Miller pinned Disco Inferno”
  30. ^ Disco Inferno's first Cruiserweight Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
  31. ^ Monday Nitro: October 4, 1999. The Other Arena. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “PSYCHOSIS vs. DISCO INFERNO for the Cruiserweight Championship. There's the Chartbuster!! 1, 2, 3!! Ladies and gentlemen, for the second time tonight, we have a NEW Cruiserweight Champion.”
  32. ^ Halloween Havoc 1999 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “WCW Cruiserweight Champ Disco Inferno pinned Lash LeRoux”
  33. ^ Mayhem 1999 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Evan Karagias pinned Disco Inferno to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title.”
  34. ^ Starrcade 1999 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Vito Lograsso & Johnny the Bull beat Disco Inferno & Lash LeRoux”
  35. ^ The Great American Bash 2000 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “WCW Cruiserweight Champ Lash LeRoux pinned Disco Inferno”
  36. ^ New Blood Rising results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “KroniK beat Chuck Palumbo & Shawn Stasiak, Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire, General Rection & Corporal Cajun in a "four corners" match. Disco Inferno was the guest referee.”
  37. ^ Fall Brawl 2000 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “Disco Inferno, Big Vito, Rey Misterio, Jr., Juventud Guerrera, Konnan, Paul Orndorff, & Tygress NC Mark Jindrak, Sean O'Haire, Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, Shawn Stasiak, Reno & Johnny the Bull in an "elimination" match”
  38. ^ Halloween Havoc 2000 results. Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. Retrieved on 2008-03-16. “WCW Tag Champs Mark Jindrak & Sean O'Haire beat Billy Kidman & Rey Misterio, Jr. and Disco Inferno & Alex Wright in a "triangle" match.”
  39. ^ WCW Millennium Germany: November 16, 2000. The Other Arena. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “Tag Title Match: General Rection & Alex Wright defeated Jindrak & O'Haire. New Tag Team Champions!!”
  40. ^ The Inception results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “INVITATIONAL BATTLE ROYAL: Buff Bagwell beat Disqo, Stevie, Storm, Smiley, Lawler, Borash and others”
  41. ^ WWA results - May 23, 2003. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “WWA TITLE MATCH: Sting pinned Disco Inferno to retain”
  42. ^ S.E.X. Profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
  43. ^ NWA:TNA PPV results - May 7, 2003. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “ANARCHY BATTLE ROYAL. Glen Gilbertti & Sabu were left for a singles match to get a title shot. #1 CONTENDERS MATCH: Glen Gilbertti beats Sabu”
  44. ^ NWA:TNA PPV results - June 4, 2003. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “WORLD TITLE MATCH: Jeff Jarrett defeated Glen Gilbertti to retain”
  45. ^ NWA:TNA PPV results - November 26, 2003. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “TAG TITLE MATCH: 3-Live Krew defeated Simon Diamond/Johnny Swinger/Glen Gilbertti. This 6-MAN TAG MATCH was for the recently held-up NWA World Tag Team titles.”
  46. ^ NWA:TNA PPV results - October 18, 2007. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “MATCH: Abyss defeated Disco Inferno”
  47. ^ GCW Heavyweight Championship History. Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  48. ^ GCW Tag Team Championship History. Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  49. ^ GCW Television Championship History. Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
  50. ^ GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship History. Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.

[edit] External links

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