| C.W. Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | El Chico C.W. Anderson Christopher W. Anderson The Enforcer |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg)[1] |
| Born | January 7, 1971 Emit, North Carolina |
| Billed from | Raleigh, North Carolina[1] |
| Trained by | WCW Power Plant |
| Debut | December 2, 1993 |
Chris Wright (born January 7, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name, C.W. Anderson. He is best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling.
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Wright grew up in North Carolina and was an ardent fan of the National Wrestling Alliance, admiring wrestlers such as Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Bobby Eaton. Upon his graduation from high school in 1989, Wright was drafted by the San Diego Padres as a catcher, but rejected the offer, instead choosing to attended college, where he studied computing while playing baseball and softball.
After graduating from college, Wright sought a new weekend sport to replace baseball. Several of his friends were wrestling professionally, and Wright decided to become a professional wrestler as well. With no formal training, he wrestled (and lost) his first match on December 4, 1993, under a mask as "El Chico". While wrestling on the independent circuit, Wright was approached by Pat and Rocky Anderson, who complimented him on his skills and appearance and offered him membership in the apocryphal Anderson family. Anderson spent two weeks trying to think of an appropriate forename, eventually settling on his initials, C.W., at the suggestion of an interviewer; he thus became C.W. Anderson. Anderson later met Ole Anderson but claimed that he was disillusioned by the experience. Anderson formed a tag team with Pat Anderson, winning the NWA World Tag Team Championship with him in 1996.[2][3]
In 1996, Anderson opened his own professional wrestling school in Smithfield, North Carolina, which he later named "The Anderson Academy" where he trained wrestlers such as Chilly Willy, Lodi and Toad.[2] It was during this time that Anderson joined the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, a promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy.[4]
In 1998, Anderson trained at the World Championship Wrestling run Power Plant under Dwayne Bruce and Pez Whatley. While there he was told by J.J. Dillon and Paul Orndorff that he lacked the talent and physique to become successful as a wrestler. After spending eighteen months in the Power Plant without being utilized on WCW television, Anderson opted to leave the Power Plant, turning down a six year WCW contract offer.[3][5]
On June 6, 1999, Anderson accompanied a friend to an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) tryout in Georgia and was convinced to get in the ring by Nova. His work impressed ECW owner Paul Heyman, and Anderson was hired. In his first match for ECW, Anderson teamed with Skull Von Krush against Danny Doring and Roadkill.[2][5]
In ECW, Anderson formed the New Dangerous Alliance with Wild Bill Whiles, Elektra and Lou E. Dangerously. After that group separated, Anderson joined forces with Simon and Swinger.
On January 7, 2001 at the final ECW pay-per-view, Guilty as Charged, Anderson lost to Tommy Dreamer in an "I Quit" match. As part of his preparation for the bout, Anderson watched the "I Quit" match between Magnum T.A. and Tully Blanchard from Starrcade 1985.[2]
Following the closure of ECW, Anderson wrestled in Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, where he formed The Extreme Horsemen, a stable modeled after The Four Horsemen, with Barry Windham and Steve Corino. The stable later wrestled in Major League Wrestling, where they were joined by P.J. Polaco and Simon Diamond.[3] Anderson also wrestled for Ring of Honor and various independent promotions in North Carolina.
From 2002 onwards, Anderson made numerous tours of Japan, most prominently for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX (by May 2006, he had toured with the company on 36 separate occasions). In 2004, he was given a tryout match by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but was not hired.[3][6] On June 10, 2005, Anderson appeared at Hardcore Homecoming, an ECW reunion event organized by Shane Douglas. The event saw Anderson team with Simon Diamond in a loss to Chris Chetti and Mikey Whipwreck. He went on to appear at Hardcore Homecoming events in September 2005 and November 2005.
Anderson was hospitalized in 2005 after a supplement named Superdrol gave him jaundice and caused his liver to stop functioning. He returned to the ring after several months, during which he lost 40 lb (18 kg) in weight.[6]
Throughout 2004 and 2005, Anderson made numerous appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment, wrestling in dark matches and on Velocity.[7][8] On June 12, 2005, he appeared at the WWE promoted ECW reunion show ECW One Night Stand, sitting at ringside next to Chris Chetti and Elektra.[9]
On May 4, 2006, Anderson and several other Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni were hired by WWE to work on their new brand, ECW.[10] Throughout June and July, Anderson wrestled at ECW house shows and in ECW on Sci Fi dark matches.[11][12][13] On August 1, he became known as Christopher W. Anderson.[14] He made what would be his only ECW television appearance on August 22, 2006, losing to CM Punk.[15] Anderson was released by WWE on January 18, 2007, along with ten other superstars.[16][17]
CW Anderson then worked in independent promotions including Vanguard Championship Wrestling where he defeated TNA wrestler Sonjay Dutt. CW re-debuted recently working for NWA Charlotte. Anderson showed up dropping 40 lbs attributing it to his new workout P90x. On April 25, 2009 he worked for GSW German Stampede Wrestling at International Impact losing to "Bad Bones" John Kay. On June 27, 2009, he appeared at an ECW type reunion show called "Legends of the Arena" and wrestled against 2 Cold Scorpio.
On August 4, 2010, it was confirmed that Wright would be taking part in TNA's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, on August 8.[18] At the event he was defeated by 2 Cold Scorpio.[19]
1This title should not be confused with the now defunct NWA United National Championship, which now comprises one of the three championships that make up the AJPW Triple Crown Championship.
June 18th 2011 CW Anderson beat Vordell Walker for the vacant Revolution Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Championship in Jacksonville, Florida