| Jimmy Del Ray | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Jimmy Backlund Jimmy Del Ray Jimmy Graffiti Jumo Kenya |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (100 kg) |
| Born | November 30, 1962 Grove City, Pennsylvania |
| Resides | Valrico, Florida |
| Trained by | The Mighty Yankee |
| Debut | 1985 |
| Retired | 1997 |
David Ferrier (born November 30, 1962) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray. Del Ray is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation as one half of the Heavenly Bodies with his tag team partner, Tom Prichard. See discussion tab about confusion over Jimmy Del Ray's real name.
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Richland was trained by The Mighty Yankee and debuted in 1985 as "Jimmy Del Ray". In the late 1980s, Del Ray joined Florida Championship Wrestling as "Jumo Kenya". He later changed his ring name to "Jimmy Backlund" and formed a tag team with Brett Sawyer known as "The Playboys". The Playboys were awarded the vacant FCW Tag Team Championship on July 1, 1989. They held the titles until August 22, when they were defeated by the Nasty Boys.
Del Ray later joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he replaced Stan Lane as one half of the Heavenly Bodies with Tom Prichard. The Heavenly Bodies were managed by James E. Cornette, and won the SMW Tag Team Championship on three occasions. Cornette put the "Gigolo" moniker on his name as a play off his physique. While Del Ray was an agile and able wrestler at the time, he had a slightly pudgy midsection that shook, or "jiggled" when he did a taunting dance.
Along with Cornette, the Heavenly Bodies debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1993. They made their first televised appearance on the August 9, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw, defeating Bobby Who and Mike Bucci. They made two more appearances on Raw that year; they were defeated by World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers in a title match on August 30, and were victorious over Mark Thomas and Scott Taylor on August 4. At SummerSlam 1993 on August 30, the Heavenly Bodies faced the Steiner Brothers with the World Tag Team Championship on the line, but were defeated.
At the 1993 Survivor Series on November 24 in the Boston Garden, the Heavenly Bodies faced The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the SMW Tag Team Championship. Though the Rock 'N Roll Express appeared to have the match won, the Heavenly Bodies defeated them after Del Ray struck Robert Gibson with Cornette's tennis racket while the referee was distracted, enabling Prichard to pin Gibson and win the titles.
At WrestleMania X on March 20, 1994 in Madison Square Garden, the Heavenly Bodies defeated The Bushwhackers in a dark match. They returned to WWF television on the April 25 episode of Raw, defeating John Paul and Jason Headings. They made sporadic appearances on Raw over the next year, with their final appearance being a loss to The Smoking Gunns on the March 20, 1995 episode of Raw. At the 1994 Survivor Series on November 23, the Heavenly Bodies took part in a ten man survivor match, teaming with Bam Bam Bigelow, Tatanka, and King Kong Bundy as Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Team. The Million Dollar Team defeated their opponents, Guts and Glory (Lex Luger, Mabel, Adam Bomb, and the Smoking Gunns), although both Prichard and Del Ray were eliminated from the match.
The Heavenly Bodies made several appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling in December 1995 as members of Raven's Nest. At ECW December To Dismember: Ultimate Jeopardy on December 9, the Heavenly Bodies faced Raven's enemies, the Public Enemy, in a tag team bout. The match had stipulations applying to the losers - if the Public Enemy lost, they would face one another later that night, while if the Heavenly Bodies lost, the Eliminators (members of Raven's Nest) would be forced to leave ECW, while their manager, Jason, would have his head shaved. Moreover, if the Heavenly Bodies were defeated, then Raven's valet, Beulah McGillicutty, would be forced to spend a week with Tommy Dreamer, while Raven's Nest member Stevie Richards would be locked in a steel cage for five minutes with the winners of the Ultimate Jeopardy match later that night. The Heavenly Bodies lost their match, leading to the enforcement of the aforementioned stipulations. Later that evening, Raven, Richards, the Eliminators, and the Heavenly Bodies faced Dreamer, the Pitbulls, and the Public Enemy in an ultimate jeopardy match. The match was won by Dreamer, who pinned Richards. Richards was subsequently locked in the cage with Dreamer's team, but Raven and his Nest attacked Dreamer's team before Richards could sustain any real damage. Raven's Nest then attacked Dreamer's team until The Sandman drove them away.
Del Ray later joined World Championship Wrestling as Jimmy Graffiti. He took part in the three ring battle royal at the 1996 World War 3 event on November 24. Del Ray remained in WCW until sustaining a knee injury that forced to retire in 1997. After retiring, he worked as an instructor in Steve Keirn's Floridian professional wrestling school for several years, training wrestlers such as Buck Quartermain and Steve Madison, and managed a tag team known as the New Heavenly Bodies. Del Ray has since retired from training wrestlers and now operates a hard wood flooring company in Tampa, Florida.