Steve Corino

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Steve Corino
An image of Steve Corino.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Mr. Baseball
Mr. Wrestling 3
Steve Christie
Steve Corino
Monster C
Billed height 6 ft 1.33 in (184 cm)
Billed weight 242 lb (110 kg)
Born May 29, 1973 (1973-05-29) (age 35)
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Resides Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Trained by Tom Brandi
Debut 1994

Steven "Steve" Eugene Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler, worked for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX and numerous independent promotions. Corino is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, ECW World Heavyweight Champion, and AWA World Heavyweight Champion. He is current owner of the Revolution Puroresu Dojo and 3K Wrestling Fighting Athletes.

Contents

[edit] Career

He began wrestling in 1994 and spent four years working on the independent circuit. During this time, he was a part of the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, a promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy.[1] Corino began an anti-hardcore gimmick on the independent circuit, because he felt he would have more chance of getting work if he did not work hardcore matches.


[edit] Extreme Championship Wrestling (1998-2001)

In 1998, Corino debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a heel manager. He stood out in ECW as a result of his "King of Old School" gimmick, where he would deride hardcore wrestlers, at one point invading a Limp Bizkit concert and protesting the immoral conduct.

He began feuding with Dusty Rhodes, who defeated him in a gory Bullrope Match at Living Dangerously 2000. At Heatwave 2000, he lost to Jerry Lynn.[1] Corino went on to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on November 5, 2000 at November to Remember. After ECW declared bankruptcy in March 2001, Corino went on to wrestle for many of the National Wrestling Alliance regional promotions.

[edit] Independent circuit (2001-Current)

He also continued his feud with Dusty in Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion as well as Southern Championship Wrestling and was part of the Extreme Horsemen with C.W. Anderson and Barry Windham. He was also part of the Extreme Horsemen in Major League Wrestling with C.W. Anderson, Justin Credible and Simon Diamond. They were briefly managed by the legendary James J. Dillon before MLW folded.

As Steve Corino was a major part of ECW towards the end of its run, rumors swirled surrounding Corino possibly signing with World Wrestling Entertainment and returning to his ECW roots as a part of the new version of ECW, but he squashed those rumors in a posting on his LiveJournal.[2]

Instead of signing with WWE, Corino worked in various independent promotions, including Zero-One, HUSTLE in Japan, Ring of Honor in the United States and both 1 Pro Wrestling and Celtic Wrestling in the United Kingdom. He is also president of World-1 Fighting Arts, which runs shows in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002)

Corino also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during its early days. Corino had matches with Low-Ki and many other stars before leaving the promotion some time later.

[edit] Ring of Honor (2002-2006)

Responding to challenge from The Backseat Boyz, Homicide invited anyone in the locker room to be his partner. Steve Corino made his ROH debut and responded to his offer, resulting in the two facing the Backseat Boys later that night. In the course of the match, Corino turned on Homicide after Homicide accidentally hit him, Old School Kicking his partner and leaving the ring, enabling the Backseat Boyz to easily defeat Homicide.

Homicide and Corino would then begin a four year long rivalry, with Corino criticizing Homicide's lifestyle and somewhat checkered past. The feud culminated in a match at the One Year Anniversary Show on February 8, 2003 in Queens, New York, New York. Homicide was the hometown favorite, but lost to Corino following interference from The Group, Corino's entourage. After the match, Corino applied a cobra clutch to Homicide, instigating a riot.

Corino and Homicide had a rematch August 16, 2003, at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies which saw Corino defeated in a rematch of their February encounter. After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modified STF, prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LaGrande, to throw in the towel, awarding the match to Homicide. In the course of the match, Corino suffered a legitimate ruptured eardrum, and permanently lost most of the hearing in his left ear following a stiff slap to the side of the head from Homicide.

Homicide faced Corino for a third time on November 29, 2003, at War of the Wire in a barbed wire match. This time however, Julius Smokes threw in the towel for Homicide after Corino throttled him with a length of barbed wire. Corino offered Homicide a handshake after the match, indicating that he finally respected Homicide, but Homicide refused to shake his hand.

On October 14 at Enter the Dragon, Corino returned to ROH in a tag team match that saw him team with Colt Cabana to defeat Low Ki and Homicide.

On December 3 in New York City at Steel Cage Warfare, Homicide lost to Corino in a rematch from their feud of 2003. During the match, Homicide separated his shoulder, but opted not to have surgery. As a result of his injury, Homicide was unable to compete at the following show, Final Battle 2005. However, he did show up, but with the intent on killing Steve Corino. Following Corino's match, Homicide ran down to the ring and attacked him. Colt Cabana ran down to the ring to save Corino, only to have Homicide pour Drano down his throat.

He returned to ROH in August 2006 after a long absence, reigniting his feud with Homicide. The feud culminated on November 4 in Philadelphia, when Homicide beat Corino in a Fight Without Honor. Although the two still hated each other, they shook hands after the match and Corino allowed Homicide to shave his head.

[edit] Retirement tour (2007)

After announcing that his retirement would come at the end of 2007, Corino began a retirement tour and traveled to various federations as a part of the tour. On October 6th, 2007, Corino captured the B4W North American title in Morganville, New Jersey from then-champion Tommy Thunda.

On November 3, 2007, Corino survived three rounds of an 8-man, single-night tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to become the Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Eddie Osbourne in the first round by pinfall, Pepper Parks in the second round by referee stoppage and "Fabulous" John McChesney in the finals by pinfall following a pair of lariat clotheslines.

On November 10th, 2007, Corino successfully defended the B4W North American title against Jihad.

On November 24th he beat Absolute Andy for the GSW Heavyweight Championship in Oberhausen, Germany which was his very last appearance in Europe.

On December 8th, 2007, Steve Corino made his final Northeast appearance for B4W. He lost the North American title to Jihad in a submission match after his protege Ricky Landell had to throw in the towel.

Corino won the Platinum Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title on December 14th, 2007 after defeating "The Indy Wrestling Superstar" Erico in front of a sold out crowd in Michigan City, Indiana.

Corino's retirement tour came to an end December 28th, 2007, when he wrestled his final match for the Showcase Wrestling Revolution in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On that night he faced off with "The Prophet" Jeremy Barnoff,"The Seasoned Veteran" Brick Crawford and "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen for the SWR International Championship in a fatal four way elimination match.

[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment (2007)

Steve recently wrestled a few try-out matches for WWE over a span of two days. Dusty Rhodes, Corino's former rival, was hopeful that WWE would sign him, but he was not offered a contract. Corino stated on his MySpace he enjoyed his time with WWE but felt he was too old school for the company.

[edit] Return to wrestling as Mr. Wrestling 3 (2008-Current)

On the January 4, 2008, Corino won his third ZERO1-MAX United States Openweight Championship as Mr. Wrestling 3 (named after Mr. Wrestling I and II) by beating Ricky Landell in Valdosta, Georgia. This match was to crown a new Champion since the split of the AWA and ZERO1-MAX. He then lost the Z1MAX U.S title to SJK on March 8, 2008 at the Devil Bhudakahn Memorial Show in Munhall, Pennsylvania. He now wrestles as "Mr. Wrestling 3" Steve Corino without the mask, and sometimes as just Mr. Wrestling 3 with the mask.

[edit] In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • "Mr. Wrestling 3" Steve Corino
    • "The King of Old School"
    • "The Old School Hero"
    • "The King of Kings"
    • "The Extreme Horseman"
    • "The Trouble King"
    • "Not Mike Toreno, Steve Corino"
    • "The King of Olsberg"

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Personal information

  • Corino is the older brother of independent wrestling star Allison Danger.
  • Corino has a half-brother whose first name is also Steve.[2]
  • On November 12, 2005, Steve Corino got engaged to his Finnish girlfriend Saana-Maria Huhtimo. They were married on May 19, 2006 in North Carolina[3].
  • Corino has one son from a previous relationship, named Colby, who was born on August 28, 1996.
  • Corino has repeatedly stated that his favorite old-school wrestlers are Tommy Rich and Tully Blanchard.
  • Corino has said that his favorite match while in ECW was the infamous Texas Bullrope Match against Dusty Rhodes at Living Dangerously 2000.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Matt Hardy (2007-05-29). Will Not Die-aries: Thoughts on rival Gregroy Helms. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
  2. ^ Steve Corino. Straight Shootin' with Steve Corino [DVD]. Ring of Honor.

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