| Bill DeMott | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Crash the Terminator[1] The Man of Question[1] Hugh Morrus[1] Captain Rection[1] General Hugh G. Rection Bill DeMott The Laughing Man[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 280 lb (130 kg)[1] |
| Born | November 10, 1966 [1] Titusville, Florida[1] |
| Resides | Henry County, Georgia |
| Billed from | Trenton, New Jersey[2] |
| Trained by | Johnny Rodz[1] |
| Debut | 1990[1] |
| Retired | June 2003 |
William Charles "Bill" DeMott II[1] (born November 10, 1966)[1] is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment as Hugh Morrus and Bill DeMott respectively and as Crash The Terminator in Extreme Championship Wrestling and Japan. While wrestling in WCW, he became a two-time United States Champion. DeMott later became a trainer for WWE Tough Enough, for which he is known for his strict, no nonsense style in handling trainees.
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DeMott was trained by Johnny Rodz in his New York wrestling school beginning in 1988. From there he began working at small independent promotions using the name Sweet Williams. In 1992 DeMott began wrestling for the American Wrestling Federation and started using the name Crash The Terminator. Under this name he found some success, first capturing the AWF Heavyweight title from Steve Strong in Puerto Rico, before moving on to the Japanese promotion W*ING and winning their tag team championship with Mr. Pogo. In 1993, while competing in W*ING, Demott won a 16 man tournament to be crowned their heavyweight champion.
When DeMott returned to the United States, he wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling for a short time, before moving on to Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling where once again he won a heavyweight championship, this time outlasting a number of competitors in a battle royal to get it.
In 1995, DeMott was signed to a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) contract at the behest of Kevin Sullivan who had been impressed by him. He debuted in dark matches as The Man of Question and The Laughing Man, a strange gimmick that saw him wearing a singlet covered in question marks and laughing frequently. He made his television debut as a member of the Dungeon of Doom as Hugh Morrus (a pun on the word humorous) on the November 18, 1995 episode of WCW Saturday Night in a vignette inside the Dungeon, where "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan told his "father" the Master that he was giving him something he never had- laughter, and that he was giving him "the man from the Isle of Nowhere." The Morrus name would last most of his WCW career. The most prominent thing about Hugh Morrus was his finisher, a moonsault dubbed the "No Laughing Matter", which often ended with a headbutt. Seeing the nearly 300 pound man sail through the air impressed a number of people (both in the crowd and backstage).
Upon the dissolution of the Dungeon Of Doom, Morrus was relegated to a lower spot on the card than ever before. As a curtain jerker he made history on September 22, 1997, when he became the first wrestler to lose a televised match to Bill Goldberg.
After this, still using the Hugh Morrus gimmick, he changed tracks completely. Now joining the growing Hardcore wrestling style in WCW he joined Jimmy Hart's First Family stable. It seemed that he (along with the rest of the group) were on their way to a major push when they secured a Pay-Per-View win over their Revolution rivals until the group suddenly broke up.
At this time, DeMott took some time off from WCW. He returned in early 2000 utilizing the same name and ring attire, but squashing a number of wrestlers as an angrier version of himself. The angry Morrus gimmick came to a halt when Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff took over and promised to take WCW in a "new direction."
After getting on Russo's bad side (in kayfabe), Morrus was fired from his New Blood stable along with a number of other wrestlers. These ex-New Blood members (including Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Booker T) formed the comedy stable Misfits In Action; they all adopted new military-themed names for themselves. Morrus, the leader, re-christened himself General Hugh G. Rection (a pun on the term "huge erection"), and led the group in a feud against the Filthy Animals.
The group's comedic nature and the workrate of some of the wrestlers made the group immediate favorites with fans. Upon the introduction of the heel Team Canada, the Misfits In Action became Made In America, though much of the gimmick remained the same. Rection feuded with Team Canada leader Lance Storm, beating him and Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a handicap match at Halloween Havoc 2000.
After his feud with Lance Storm, the next night on WCW Monday Nitro, DeMott stood in the ring and spoke to the fans. During this segment, the WCW locker room emptied and many wrestlers from backstage stood on the entrance way clapping for DeMott; Bill Goldberg grabbed the microphone and, fondly recalling his first opponent in WCW, said "Hey, Goldberg's streak had to start somewhere, my friend." In perhaps one of DeMott's greatest achievements in wrestling, he gained respect from his peers.
The Misfits In Action eventually broke up and DeMott took the name Hugh Morrus again for a feud with former members of the stable. Morrus competed in WCW's U.S. Championship division winning the United States Champions on two occasions until the World Wrestling Federation's buyout of WCW.
When WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Morrus signed a deal with the WWF and became part of The Invasion angle as a member of The Alliance. Morrus made his WWF debut on the June 4, 2001 episode of Raw attacking Edge, but didn't debut in the ring until July 2001. Morrus didn't make much of an impact during this angle as he mostly wrestled on WWF's lesser shows (Heat and Jakked). He only had 3 high profile matches, with them being at WWF Invasion on July 22 when he, along with Shawn Stasiak and Chris Kanyon, defeated Big Show, Billy Gunn and Albert; on the August 9 edition of SmackDown! losing to Chris Jericho as Stephanie McMahon's hand picked opponent; and, on the August 27 edition of Raw, facing Edge for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, which Edge retained when Morrus won via disqualification. When that angle ended at Survivor Series 2001, after Team Alliance lost to Team WWF, Morrus was kayfabe fired by Vince McMahon. He was used at house shows and worked in WWF's developmental territory Heartland Wrestling Association. During his time there he, along with Raven, defeated Lance Cade and Steve Bradley to become HWA Tag Team champions on March 12, 2002.
In April 2002, Ric Flair was able to "save his job" and get him drafted to the SmackDown! brand. Morrus returned on the April 6, 2002, episode of Jakked along with Chavo Guerrero (who was also a member of The Alliance) and defeated The Hurricane and Funaki. Morrus was a mainstay on Jakked (later renamed Velocity) until late July 2002 when he was legitimately, seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and had to take a leave from the ring. During his time away, he became a trainer for the third season of Tough Enough, WWE's reality television show.
When he had sufficiently healed, Morrus made his return on the November 23, 2002, edition of Velocity, billing himself under his real name, Bill DeMott. DeMott made his official SmackDown! return on December 5, 2002, as a monster heel defeating Funaki in a squash match. After his return, he was given a push that had him squashing various wrestlers, including Funaki, Shannon Moore, Chuck Palumbo, Crash Holly, and even Rikishi on two separate occasions on SmackDown!. This push did not last long, however, as DeMott was demoted to Velocity starting in February 2003. In May, DeMott made a face turn and started telling knock-knock jokes. The gimmick didn't get over, but he remained a Velocity mainstay and his in-ring domination continued. His last televised match was the June 14 episode of Velocity defeating Chris Kanyon. Later that month, DeMott retired from in-ring action, citing years of knee injuries. He became a Velocity color commentator[2] in November until Tough Enough 4, where he once again became a trainer.
When Tough Enough 4 wrapped production, DeMott did not make a return to Velocity. Instead, he became a full time trainer for WWE. While training wrestlers in WWE's Deep South Wrestling "farm territory", he briefly returned to in-ring action to team with The Freakin' Deacon to face The Gymini. DeMott was also booker for DSW, however his direction in the promotion has been criticized especially by former WWE development signee Kenny Omega who backed out his contract due to poor treatment. DeMott was released from his WWE contract on January 19, 2007,[3] with Tom Prichard taking his place as trainer.
Since parting ways with WWE, DeMott has competed for several different independent promotions including Carolina Wrestling Association and United Wrestling Federation.
DeMott served as the head trainer on the revived Tough Enough series. Since then, a WWE Alumni profile has been created for him on WWE.com.
DeMott married his first wife Rose Azzolino in 1987 when he turned twenty-one.[4] The couple had two daughters, Casey, who was born two months premature on July 7, 1993[5] and Keri, who was born on January 9, 1995.[6] The marriage was annulled in 2004.[7] He married his second wife, Lacey Storey on December 18, 2004.[7] The couple has one child together, a son named William Charles DeMott III, who was born on November 2, 2008.[8]
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