Andy Leavine

Andy Leavine
Birth name Andrew Leavine
Born December 27, 1987[1]
Brooksville, Florida[2]
Resides Tampa, Florida
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Andrew Leavine[2]
Andy Leavine[2]
Kevin Hackman[2]
Billed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[3]
Billed weight 270 lb (120 kg; 19 st)[3]
Billed from Tampa, Florida[3]
Trained by Florida Championship Wrestling[2]
Booker T[2]
Bill DeMott[2]
Debut 2010[2]

Andrew "Andy" Leavine[2] (born December 27, 1987)[1] is an American professional wrestler. Leavine won WWE Tough Enough in 2011 to earn a contract with WWE, and previously wrestled for WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling under the ring name Kevin Hackman.

Early life

Leavine initially attended Central High School, but transferred to Springstead High School in November 2005 for the remainder of his senior year.[4][5] Leavine was a two-sport athlete in high school, participating in scholastic wrestling and playing American football.[5] During high school, he also competed in track athletics and weightlifting.[1] At Central High, he played in all five offensive lineman positions.[6] Prior to transferring to Sprigstead, Leavine was the captain of the Central High School football team.[1] At Springstead, Leavine was part of the wrestling team that won the Hernando County Athletic Conference trophy in December 2005, and that same season had a record of 33 wins and 4 losses, with 23 pins.[7][8] Leavine graduated from Springstead in 2006.[7]

Leavine then attended Florida International University (FIU) on a scholarship, where he continued to play football as an offensive lineman.[1][7][9] He started all 12 FIU football games in his freshman year.[1] During his sophomore year in 2007, Leavine broke a bone in his hand in a match against Pennsylvania State University, but only missed one game the week following his injury, the only game he missed all season.[1] He returned in the following game against the University of Miami despite the injury.[10] During his junior year, Leavine suffered an early season injury, but returned to the team as the left guard.[1] He graduated from FIU in 2010, with a degree in Parks and Recreation.[7]

In April of that year, he was one of several undrafted players who signed with the Miami Dolphins team in the National Football League as a free agent.[7][11] Leavine has stated that he was misled by the Dolphins, and left the team soon after signing.[7] Following this, he considered joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and playing in either the Arena Football League or the Canadian Football League, but decided against it for financial reasons.[7]

Wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2010–2012)

In 2010, Leavine signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory. Under the ring name of Kevin Hackman, Leavine only took part in a couple of matches before being released in February 2011 to participate on Tough Enough.[2]

In March 2011, Leavine was announced as one of the fourteen contestants for the revival of WWE Tough Enough.[12][13] Leavine was not regarded as one of the front runners at the beginning of the show, but ended strongly and made it to the final two with Luke Robinson.[14] He was announced as the winner of Tough Enough on the June 6 episode of Raw by Stone Cold Steve Austin who gave him a Stone Cold Stunner after being slapped by Vince McMahon, as a welcoming gift to the WWE.[15] Leavine also appeared on Raw the following week on June 13, in a backstage segment with Austin and CM Punk.[16] He then returned to FCW.[17]

Leavine confirmed in an interview on WWE's official website in June 2011 that he would be training in FCW.[17] In April 2012, Leavine was released from WWE.[18][19]

World Wrestling Council (2012–present)

After his release, Leavine started to working for World Wrestling Council (WWC), a wrestling territory in Puerto Rico owned by Carlos Colon. On September 8, 2012, Leavine defeated Apolo and Gilbert in a three-way match to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship. On October 26, 2012, he competed against Wes Brisco and Ray Fénix in a winning effort in a non-title match.[20] He wrestled a Loser Leaves WWC Match vs Wes Brisco in a no-contest after Ray González interfered, and attacked both of them at the same time with 2 steel bars. The following week, he competed with the same stipulation, except this time it was anything goes, and he lost to Wes Brisco, to (kayfabe) fire him. On April 27, 2013, Leavine and Samson Walker defeated Thunder & Lighting, winning the WWC Tag Team Championship. At June 29, 2013, at Summer Madness, Samson & Leavine lost the Tag Team titles to The Sons of Samoa (LA Smooth & Afa, Jr.). At WWC 40 Aniversario, Leavine defeated Walker.

Personal life

Leavine is a cousin of Dan Spivey.[3][14] Leavine has practiced both jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts since his time attending FIU.[7] He was married and has two children.[12] He is divorced as of August 2014.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "#58 Andy Leavine". Florida International University. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 "Kevin Hackman". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Kevin Hackman". Florida Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Vincent (November 11, 2005). "Eagles gain heavyweight talent in transfer Leavine". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Murphy, David (December 21, 2005). "Rebirth of dominance". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ Murphy, David (August 31, 2006). "Leavine hits stride with FIU". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Bernhardt, Jr., Chris (August 12, 2010). "Leavine signs with WWE". Hernando Today. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  8. ↑ Thomas, Vincent (December 21, 2005). "Phase I in the bag for Springstead". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ Murphy, David (January 24, 2007). "No sophomore slump expected". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Hernando: News and notes". St. Petersburg Times. September 18, 2007. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ Reistetle, Matt (May 3, 2010). "Sentinel college football countdown: No. 119 Florida International". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Andy Leavine". USA Network. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  13. ↑ Caldwell, James (March 15, 2011). "WWE News: Entire "Tough Enough" cast revealed - nine men, five women, independent wrestlers, MMA fighter, Alicia Fox's sister, Fairplay's wife". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Strum, Phil (June 9, 2011). "Andy Leavine is Tough Enough and Raw is run of the mill". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Adkins, Greg (June 6, 2011). "Raw results: Brew you!". WWE. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ Bishop, Matt (June 14, 2011). "Raw: Austin, Piper headline 'All Star' night". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Burdick, Michael (June 15, 2011). "Andy Leavine: "Raging" into the Machine". WWE. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  18. ↑ "WWE reportedly cuts TE winner". Pro Wrestling Torch. April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  19. ↑ "WWE releases Tough Enough winner". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Piñeiro, Anthony (September 9, 2012). "Resultados: Septiembre Negro 2012 – Carlito traiciona a Ray González – Andy Leavine Nuevo Campeón Universal" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  21. ↑ Namako, Jason (January 2, 2012). "FCW Results – 1/2/12". WrestleView. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  22. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 4, 2011). "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 7/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Independence Day Raw – Punk promo fall-out, #1 contender match, McMahon returns". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  23. ↑ Parks, Greg (January 15, 2012). "VIP Free Preview – Parks: WWE Developmental Update – Who stands out as main-roster-ready? Moxley, Steamboat, more (#1236)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  24. ↑ http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=81687

External links