Matt Bloom

Matt Bloom
Ring name(s)	Albert A-Train Baldo Giant Bernard Gigante Bernard The Mongolian Prince Albert Rusher Road Train
Billed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)[1]
Billed weight	331 lb (150 kg)[2]
Born	November 14, 1972 (1972-11-14) (age 38)[3] Peabody, Massachusetts[4]
Resides	Scottsdale, Arizona
Billed from	Boston, Massachusetts[1]
Trained by	Killer Kowalski Dory Funk, Jr.
Debut	1997

Matthew Jason "Matt" Bloom (born November 14, 1972) is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling under the ring name Giant Bernard. He is currently one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions with partner Karl Anderson. Between 1997 and 2004, Bloom wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring names Prince Albert, Albert, and A-Train.

Early life

Bloom attended Peabody High School, where he earned three letters in football and basketball, two in track and field, and one in baseball. He went on to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where he played American football as an offensive tackle and an offensive guard.^[5]

Bloom graduated in 1996 with a degree in sign language. After graduating, Bloom briefly played in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers. He then became a schoolteacher, teaching mathematics and English to children with behavioral problems and deaf children at Revere High School. After rewarding his three aptest students with a trip to a professional wrestling event, Bloom, who had aspired to wrestle professionally as a child, met wrestler and wrestling trainer Killer Kowalski and expressed an interest in learning how to wrestle. Kowalski invited Bloom to attend his school, and Bloom opted to leave teaching and train as a wrestler.^[1][4][5]

Professional wrestling career

Starting out

Bloom wrestled his first match in 1997, facing Tim McNeany. He briefly wrestled as Baldo, a gimmick given to him by referee Freddy Sparta that saw him wear a fur rug to the ring.^[4][5]

After being introduced to talent scout Tom Prichard by George Steele, Bloom was hired by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). After receiving supplementary training from Dory Funk, Jr., Bloom was assigned to the Power Pro Wrestling (PPW) developmental territory in Memphis, Tennessee, where he wrestled as Baldo. While wrestling in PPW, Bloom won both the PPW Young Guns Championship and the PPW Heavyweight Championship, and engaged in a feud with Memphis mainstay Jerry Lawler.^[4][5][6]

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1999–2004)

Bloom debuted on WWF television on the April 11, 1999 episode of Sunday Night Heat, saving Droz from a beating at the hands of Big Bossman. Bloom was named Prince Albert, and joined a short-lived trio called "the Pierced Pals".^[2] He acquired the persona of Droz's personal tattooist. Droz and Albert continued to team together until Droz was paralyzed in October 1999, at which point Albert became the protege of the Big Bossman. The duo separated following the debut of Bull Buchanan, who formed a tag team with the Big Bossman.^[1][5][6]

In March 2000, Bloom, now commonly known as Albert, was recruited by Trish Stratus to form a tag team with Test. The tag team, known as T & A, competed in the tag team division throughout 2000, feuding with rival tag teams such as the Dudley Boyz and the Acolytes Protection Agency. In December 2000, the team separated after Bloom attacked Test under the orders of Stephanie McMahon Helmsley.^[4][5]

In April 2001, Albert formed a stable known as X-Factor with Justin Credible and X-Pac.^[6] On June 28, 2001 in New York City, New York, Bloom defeated Kane with help from DDP to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He lost the WWF Intercontinental Championship to Alliance member Lance Storm on July 23, 2001 in Buffalo, New York after several interferences.^[6] In July 2001, Credible left X-Factor and joined The Alliance. Albert and X-Pac continued to team until November 2001, when X-Pac was injured.^[1][5][6]

In late 2001, Albert adopted the nickname "The Hip Hop Hippo" and began teaming with Scotty 2 Hotty.^[6] Upon the introduction of the Brand Extension, both Bloom and Hotty were assigned to the SmackDown! brand.^[6] The tag team disbanded on April 4, 2002 when Albert attacked Hotty after the duo failed to defeat Billy and Chuck for the WWF Tag Team Championship.^[6]

Subsequently, he was not featured in any high profile feuds until December 2002, when he joined forces with Paul Heyman and The Big Show, and was renamed A-Train after Heyman's suggestion. A-Train and Big Show lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XIX. A-Train feuded with The Undertaker, whom he wrestled at SummerSlam, and Chris Benoit, whom he wrestled at No Mercy. At Survivor Series, he wrestled alongside Lesnar in a ten man Survivor Series match.^[6] He competed in the 2004 Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by the eventual winner, Chris Benoit. When Benoit decided to compete against Triple H for the World Championship on the Raw brand, General Manager Paul Heyman held a SmackDown! style Royal Rumble where the winner would meet Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at No Way Out. He was eliminated by Eddie Guerrero, who went on to win the match. The alliance with Lesnar ended in March 2004 when Bloom was drafted to the Raw brand.^[6] A-Train debuted on Raw on June 7. On June 21, he suffered a torn rotator cuff. Before returning from injury, he was released from his WWE contract on November 1, 2004.^[7]

Bloom holds the distinction of wrestling in the first match on 'Jakked', against Ken Shamrock, and the last match, against Hugh Morris.

Independent circuit (2004)

Following his release, Bloom wrestled for the Impact Zone Wrestling independent promotion under the ring name Train.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2005)

In March 2005, Bloom began wrestling for the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion, adopting the ring name Giant Bernard, a reference to fellow gaijin Brute Bernard. He went on to join the Voodoo Murders stable alongside fellow WWE alumni Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli. On October 18, 2005, Bloom unsuccessfully challenged Satoshi Kojima for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.^[1][6]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2006–present)

In January 2006, Bloom left AJPW and joined the rival New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. In April 2006, he defeated Yuji Nagata in the finals of the 2006 New Japan Cup. As a result of his victory, Bloom received a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He unsuccessfully challenged IWGP Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar on May 3, 2006 in Tenjin, Chūō-ku, Fukuoka.^[1]

In July 2006, following the vacation of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by Lesnar, Bloom entered a tournament for the title, losing to Hiroshi Tanahashi in the tournament finals. In August 2006, Bloom took part in the 2006 G1 Climax tournament, losing to Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the semi-finals.

On March 11, 2007 in Nagoya, Bloom and Travis Tomko defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Takao Ōmori to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.^[1] At the February 17, 2008 New Japan show, they lost the IWGP Tag Titles to Togi Makabe and Toru Yano. Following Tomko's departure for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on a full-time basis, Bernard began teaming with former World Championship Wrestling wrestler Rick Fuller in another powerhouse tag team. On September 5, 2008, Bernard and Fuller betrayed Shinsuke Nakamura and Hirooki Goto to align themselves with Hiroyoshi Tenzan's Great Bash Heel stable.

In addition to wrestling for NJPW as Giant Bernard, Bloom also wrestled for the NJPW affiliate, Wrestle Land, as Rusher Road, a member of the "Roads" stable, until the brand's closure.

In 2009, after betraying Togi Makabe, Bernard and the rest of GBH left the stable to join Shinsuke Nakamura and form the new stable known as CHAOS. Bernard formed the tag team Bad Intentions with CHAOS partner Karl Anderson and together the two of them went on to win the 2009 G1 Climax Tag League, defeating Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi) in the finals of the tournament on November 1. They went on to challenge for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but their match with the defending champions Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) ended in a double countout.^[8] In April 2010 both Bernard and Anderson left CHAOS, when the stable turned on them.^[9]

Through New Japan's working agreement with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Bloom did his first tour of Mexico in May 2010 under the ring name Gigante Bernard. He managed to win back-to-back six two out of three falls tag team matches in two straight falls, before losing his final match of the tour on June 11 via disqualification.^[10] Upon his return to Japan, Bernard and Anderson defeated the teams of Blue Justice Army (Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue) and No Limit (Tetsuya Naitō and Yujiro Takahashi) in a three-way elimination match on June 19 to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.^[11] Bad Intentions made their first successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championship on July 19, defeating the Blue Justice Army and No Limit in a three-way "Dogfight".^[12]

Personal life

Bloom was married on September 3, 2005.^[13] Bloom has 28 body piercings, the first of which he received at the age of fourteen.^[4]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • As Albert / A-Train
    • Baldo Bomb (WWF) / Derailer (WWE) (Chokebomb pin)^[6][13]
    • Train Wreck (Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack drop)
  • As Giant Bernard
    • Bernard Bomb (Elevated sitout powerbomb)^[14]
    • Bernard Driver (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver)^[6][15]
    • Corner slingshot splash^[16]

• Signature moves
  • Bicycle kick^[13]
  • Body avalanche
  • Decapitator (Hangman catapult)^[13]
  • Fireman's carry neckbreaker^[13]
  • Giant swing^[13]

• With Travis Tomko
  • Magic Killer (Aided snap swinging neckbreaker)^[17]

• Managers
  • Trish Stratus
  • Paul Heyman
  • Sable
  • Bruno Lauer^[18]

• Nicknames
  • "The Wrestler Formerly Known as Prince"
  • "The Hip Hop Hippo"

• Theme music
  • "Puke" by Jim Johnston (1999–2000; while teaming with Droz)
  • "Emergency" by Rick DiFonzo (2000; while part of T & A)
  • "Whatchu Looking At?" by Uncle Kracker (2001; while part of X-Factor)
  • "Turn It Up" by James A Johnston (2001–2002; while teaming with Scotty 2 Hotty)
  • "Disgusting (underscore)" by Bryan New & George Young (2002; as Albert)
  • "Sticks and Stones" by Jason Davis (2002; as A-Train)
  • "Derailer" by Jim Johnston (2003; as A-Train)
  • "Bernard Theme" (NJPW; 2006–present; as Giant Bernard)

Championships and accomplishments

• Impact Zone Wrestling
  • IZW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[6]

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times, current) – with Travis Tomko (1)^[6] and Karl Anderson (1, current)^[11]
  • G1 Climax Tag League (2007) – with Travis Tomko
  • G1 Climax Tag League (2009) – with Karl Anderson
  • New Japan Cup (2006)

• Power Pro Wrestling
  • PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[6]
  • PPW Young Guns Championship (1 time)^[6]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked #53 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008^[6]

• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[6]

References

External links

• Matt Bloom at the Internet Movie Database
• Grapple List: Giant Bernard Profile