Mark Canterbury

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Mark Canterbury
An image of Mark Canterbury.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Henry O. Godwinn
Mark Canterbury
Shanghai Pierce
Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight 297 lb (135 kg/21.2 st)
Born March 16, 1964 (1964-03-16) (age 44)
West Virginia, United States
Billed from Arkansas
Trained by George South
Italian Stallion
Debut 1989
Retired 2007

Mark Canterbury (born March 16, 1964 in West Virginia) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Henry O. Godwinn.

Contents

[edit] Career

Canterbury trained under George South and the Italian Stallion before debuting in 1989 under the ring name "Mean" Mark Canterbury. He quickly formed a tag team with Dennis Knight who would be wrestling as Tex Slazenger while Mark Canterbury donned a mask and became known as The Master Blaster.

In October 1992, the duo began wrestling for World Championship Wrestling,[1] with Canterbury adopting the ring name Shanghai Pierce but keeping the mask. They remained with the promotion until 1994.

In the mid 1994, Canterbury joined the World Wrestling Federation, where he was renamed Henry Orpheus Godwinn and given the gimmick of an Arkansan pig farmer who carried a bucket of "slop" to the ring, which he would throw upon his opponents. Canterbury was originally a heel, and assisted the Million Dollar Corporation on several occasions.[2] However, when the leader of the Corporation, Ted DiBiase, was asked on an episode of WWF Action Zone whether or not Canterbury was a member of the Corporation, DiBiase instead insulted Canterbury. This inspired Canterbury to turn face by "slopping" DiBiase,[3] and led to a brief feud between Canterbury and Corporation member Sid.

Godwinn engaged in a feud with the aristocratic Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The feud culminated in December 1995 in an "Arkansas Hog Pen match" that Helmsley won. After the match, however, Godwinn tossed Helmsley into the slop, much to the blueblood's distaste.[4]

In 1996, Canterbury was reunited with Knight, who had been renamed Phineas I. Godwinn. The duo were portrayed as being cousins and were collectively known as The Godwinns. Over the following two years, The Godwinns held the WWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions[5] and were managed by Uncle Cletus, Hillbilly Jim, and Sunny.

In 1997, in a match between The Godwinns and the Legion of Doom, Canterbury suffered a cracked C7 vertebra when the Legion of Doom botched a Doomsday Device. He was advised by doctors to rest for 15 weeks, but returned to the ring in less than eight weeks.[6]

In 1998, Canterbury entered the Brawl For All, a shoot-fighting tournament held by the WWF. He lost in the first round to Bradshaw [7]

Later that year, the Godwinns dropped their pig farmer gimmicks and became "Southern Justice", the bodyguards of Tennessee Lee.[8] Six months later, Canterbury herniated his C7 vertebra and pinched a spinal nerve, necessitating spinal fusion surgery. This came as a result of him returning to the ring too early after his neck injury. He evenutally left the WWF and retired, due to the neck injury suffered in 1997.[6]

In September 2006, Canterbury wrestled several tryout matches with World Wrestling Entertainment. On September 15, 2006, WWE announced that he had been signed to a contract.[6] He debuted in Deep South Wrestling on 11/30 as a tag partner for Ray Gordy. Gordy was known as Cousin Ray and they both reformed The Godwinns. However, since both Gordy and Drew Hankinson went to the SmackDown! brand, Godwinn's role remained uncertain.

On May 19th, the Wrestling Observer reported that Canterbury had been released from his developmental contract.[9]

Canterbury has not appeared at any indy shows since his release.

[edit] Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Managers
  • Nicknames

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] References

Professional wrestling
Portal
  1. ^ Graham Cawthon. WCW Show Results 1992. Retrieved on April 16, 2007. “(November, 1992) Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce defeated Ricky Nelson & the Italian Stallion at 4:17 when Slazenger pinned Nelson with a reverse DDT”
  2. ^ Graham Cawthon. WWF Show Results 1995. Retrieved on April 16, 2007. “(June 26, 1995) Lex Luger & Davey Boy Smith defeated Henry Godwinn & Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase) at 5:49”
  3. ^ Graham Cawthon. WWF Show Results 1995. Retrieved on April 16, 2007. “(August 15, 1995) Henry Godwinn pinned AC Conner at 2:20 with the Slop Drop; late in the bout, Ted Dibiase appeared in the aisle; after the match, King Kong Bundy came out and attacked Godwinn from behind and held him for Dibiase to slop but Godwinn moved and accidentally slopped Bundy”
  4. ^ prowrestlinghistory.com. WWF In Your House Results (5). Retrieved on April 16, 2007.
  5. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 
  6. ^ a b c WWE.com. O Henry!. Retrieved on April 17, 2007.
  7. ^ .prowrestlinghistory.com. WWF Brawl For All Tournament. Retrieved on April 16, 2007.
  8. ^ Graham Cawthon. WWF Show Results 1998. Retrieved on April 16, 2007. “(June 1, 1998) Jeff Jarrett (w/ Tennessee Lee & Southern Justice) pinned Farooq after hitting him with Lee's belt buckle as Southern Justice distracted the referee; prior to the bout Tennessee Lee introduced the repackaged Godwinns as Southern Justice”
  9. ^ Henry Godwinn released (9). Retrieved on May 20, 2007 author = www.wrestling-news.com.
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