| Al Green | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Master Blaster Blade[1] Wrecking Crew Rage Rage The Dog[1] Al Greene, Bounty Hunter #1 Big Al[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 280 lb (130 kg)[1] |
| Born | January 19[1] |
| Billed from | Tampa, Florida[1] |
| Trained by | Steve Keirn[1] |
| Debut | 1990 |
Al Green is a professional wrestler who has performed in North America, Europe and Japan under a variety of gimmicks the most well known being "Rage" (One half of the team The Wrecking Crew with Fury), Blade one half of the Master Blasters with Steel (Kevin Nash) and the Dog in World Championship Wrestling at the turn of the millennium.[1]
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Green was trained for a professional wrestling career by Steve Keirn, making his debut in 1990. Green's first role was as a replacement partner for Kevin Nash in "The Master Blasters". Green was known as "Blade" and worked for World Championship Wrestling in September and October 1990. After leaving WCW Green competed for Florida Championship Wrestling as one half of the tag team The Bounty Hunters, first known as "Bounty Hunter #1" later on as "The Bounty Hunter. The Bounty Hunters won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship in November, but when one of the Bounty Hunters was injured The Terminator stepped in and teamed up with Green to defend the tag team titles. The team held the gold until the Nasty Boys beat them on a card in Nassau, Bahamas on January 6, 1990.[2]
While the team with The Terminator was a makeshift team at first, but they began teaming regularly first under the name The Terminators then later on as The Wrecking Crew where Marc became known as Fury and Al was renamed “Rage”. The team competed for the International Wrestling Federation based in Florida showing themselves to be a force in the tag team division. On May 28, 1992 the duo beat IWF Tag Team Champions The Long Riders (Brett Colt and Kip Winchester).[2]
By late 1992 the Wrecking Crew got signed by World Championship Wrestling, making their debut in January 1993.[3] Shortly after their debut the Wrecking Crew got national exposure by competing at Clash of the Champions XXII on January 13 where they defeated Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn.[4]
After their success at the clash the team rode on a wave of success defeating Gunn and Zenk repeatedly,[5][6] as well as looking impressive against temporary teams such as 2 Cold Scorpio and Johnny B. Badd,[7] and Marcus Bagwell and Joey Maggs.[8]
By March the team was contesting a series of matches with future WCW World Tag Team Champions 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell[9] as well as feuding with the identical twin duo known as The Cole Twins (Keith and Kent Cole).[10] The feud with the Cole Twins was soon expanded to also include Bagwell and Scorpio as well as Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce.[11] As the feud wore on the Cole Twins got the upper hand in the feud over the two big men.[12] The Wrecking Crew also faced Cactus Jack and The Barbarian in a series of house show matches.[13]
As Summer turned to fall the Wrecking Crew’s time with WCW ended, returning to the independent scene. In 1994 the Wrecking Crew traveled to Europe to work for Otto Wanz’ Catch Wrestling Association. On July 24 they defeated David Finlay and John Hawk in the finals of a tournament to crown new CWA Tag Team Champions after Larry Cameron had died during a match.[2] Fury and Rage held the belts for only 3 weeks before being unseated by CWA regulars August Smisl and Ulf Herman in Vienna, Austria.[2]
In 1995 the Wrecking Crew tourned with All Japan Pro Wrestling over the summer being put over young teams like Kentaro Shiga and Mannukea Mossman.[14] The highlight of their summer tour was a clash with multiple time AJPW All Asia Tag Team Champions Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat which the Wrecking Crew lost.[15]
Green performed in WCW during the late 1990s, mainly on low level programs like WCW Saturday Night. While doing guest commentary, Kevin Nash made reference to Green being a former tag team partner of his (also making a pun of his name, relating to the more famous singer Al Green). In 2000, he was repackaged as The Dog when he formed a hardcore tag team managed by Fit Finlay with former Nasty Boy Brian Knobbs. Green's mannerisms in this gimmick were those of a stereotypical attack dog and would have habits not unlike dogs, including drinking from the toilet. He was a last minute replacement in their group for Sabu, who couldn't start for WCW due to contract issues. Upon the acquisition of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation in early 2001, Green's contract was one of the assets not taken.
Al Green's most recent television appearances have been as a guest on the reality show Hogan Knows Best and Brooke Knows Best on VH1.