| Curtis Hughes | |
|---|---|
Curtis Hughes, in his "Mr. Hughes" gimmick |
|
| Ring name(s) | The Big Cat[1][2] Big Cat Hughes[2] Gotch Gracie[3] Curtis Hughes[2] Mr. Hughes[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1][4] |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg)[4] |
| Born | December 7, 1964 [3] Kansas City, Missouri[3] |
| Resides | Atlanta, Georgia[4] |
| Billed from | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Trained by | Sonny Myers[2] Bob Geigel[2] |
| Debut | 1988[1] |
Curtis Hughes (born December 7, 1964) is an American professional wrestler, better known under the ring name Mr. Hughes. He is best known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation. In addition to the WWF, Hughes has also worked for World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, the American Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Championship Wrestling. Hughes currently trains wrestlers in the WWA4 Training School and wrestles on the independent circuit.
Contents |
While briefly attending Kansas State University, Hughes began playing on the football team.[4] After leaving college, Hughes began training with Sonny Myers and Bob Geigel to become a professional wrestler. In 1988, he made his debut and began competing with the American Wrestling Association as Curtis "The Cat" Hughes, a friendly fan favorite. He then moved on to World Championship Wrestling, where he began using the gimmick of "The Big Cat". Within a few months, he adopted an enforcer character who commonly wore a suit and tie to ring and frowned a lot and changed his in ring name to "Mr. Hughes". Hughes became a prominent member of factions such as the York Foundation, the Rat Pack and the Darkside.[4]
After stints in several independent promotions, Hughes signed a short-term deal with the World Wrestling Federation and was brought in as a part of the feud between The Undertaker and Harvey Wippleman. During the feud, Hughes managed to hold his own against Undertaker and even stole his urn before being ultimately defeated by him, after which Hughes left the company.
After his departure from the WWF, Hughes made his Extreme Championship Wrestling debut as the bodyguard for Shane Douglas during Douglas' first and second World Heavyweight Championship reigns. In addition to aiding Douglas, Hughes also competed in several singles matches during which he was nicknamed "The Ruffneck".
Hughes made two more short-lived appearances for the WWF, the first being as the bodyguard for Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 1997, before being replaced by Chyna.[5] He made his final appearance for the WWF as the bodyguard for Chris Jericho in 1999 before being turned on by Jericho himself during a tag team match.
Now Hughes works on the independent circuit and has also become the head trainer at the WWA4 Wrestling School, the training school of the Atlanta-based World Wrestling Alliance. In 2006, WWA4 launched a professional wrestling program which is televised in local markets and available on the internet. Hughes co-hosts the show alongside wrestling announcer and the broadcasts executive producer, Taylor McKnight. When Mcknight left WWA4 to do work for Great Championship Wrestling, Dave Wills, better known as the "It's Still Real To Me" guy took over co-hosting along side Mr. Hughes. After beginning classes at the WWA4 school, Hughes' weight steadily dropped from 310 pounds to 250 pounds.[4]
In 2007, Hughes became the focus of Memphis Wrestling when he called Jerry Lawler a "sell out" for not showing up for a scheduled match against Hulk Hogan, which occurred due to WWE's legal issues with the match. After his statement, Hughes began a feud with Lawler. After shoving Lawler's real life girlfriend Renee on an edition of Memphis Primetime, the two battled three weeks later at Sam's Town River Palace Arena in Tunica, Mississippi. The match ended when Hughes got down on his knees and apologized for his actions before hitting Lawler with a low blow and punching Renee in the face, thus losing via disqualification.