Bo Dallas

Bo Dallas

Bo Dallas in April 2014
Birth name Taylor Michael Rotunda[1]
Born May 25, 1990[1]
Brooksville, Florida, United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Bo Dallas[3]
Bo Rotunda[4]
Bo Rotundo[4]
Tank Mulligan[4]
Tank Rotunda[4]
Tank Rotundo[4]
Taylor Rotunda[4]
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[5]
Billed weight 234 lb (106 kg)[5]
Billed from Brooksville, Florida[5]
Trained by Florida Championship Wrestling[4]
Debut December 2008[6]

Taylor Michael Rotunda (born May 25, 1990) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he wrestles as Bo Dallas. While working in WWE's developmental territories, he held the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship three times and is a former two-time FCW Florida Tag Team Champion with his older brother Windham Rotunda, and was a former NXT Champion.

Background

Rotunda is a third generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, father Mike Rotunda and uncles Barry and Kendall Windham were all professional wrestlers.[7] His brother Windham is also a professional wrestler[6]

Rotunda attended Hernando High School, and graduated in 2008.[6] During his final two years of high school, he qualified for the state wrestling championships.[6] He also played football as a linebacker.[7] Originally, he was offered a football scholarship at Webber International University in Babson Park, Florida, but when the offer fell through, he decided to become a wrestler instead.[6][8]

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Florida Championship Wrestling (2008–2012)

In 2008, Rotunda signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he debuted in December by defeating Caleb O'Neal.[6] On December 16, 2008, Rotunda, wrestling under his real name teamed with Kris Logan to defeat Ryback and Jon Cutler in a tag team match.[4] Throughout early 2009, Rotunda continued wrestling in tag team matches, and changed his name to 'Tank Rotunda' in February.[9] In June, he began wrestling as 'Bo Rotunda' and later 'Bo Rotundo', and the following month he began teaming with his brother, Duke Rotundo.[9] At the FCW television tapings on June 23, The Rotundo Brothers defeated The Dude Busters (Caylen Croft and Trent Barretta) to become the number one contenders to the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.[9] That same night, they defeated Justin Angel and Kris Logan for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.[6][9] They went on to successfully defend the championship against Dylan Klein and Vance Archer and the team of Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater.[9] At the FCW television tapings on November 19, the Rotundos lost the championship to The Dude Busters (Hawkins and Croft).[9] In early 2010, the Rotundos began feuding with The Usos (Jimmy and Jules), and their manager, Sarona Snuka.[10] In April, they moved into a feud with Jackson Andrews and Curt Hawkins, which began when Rotundo faced Andrews in a singles match and won by disqualification when Hawkins interfered.[10]

Rotundo during a match in March 2010 at an FCW show

Rotundo was then absent from FCW due to injury, making his return in June.[10] He moved into singles competition, defeating wrestlers including Derrick Bateman, Hawkins, Tyler Reks, and Brodus Clay.[10] In August, FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion Mason Ryan issued an open challenge, which Rotundo accepted. He lost the subsequent championship match by submission.[10] On February 3, 2011, Rotundo defeated Ryan to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship for the first time, but lost the championship to Lucky Cannon immediately afterward.[11][12] He regained the championship from Cannon three months later, on May 19.[11] In July ans August, Rotundo appeared in multiple untelevised matches before WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown.[13][14][15] On September 1, Rotundo vacated the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship due to injury.[16] Later that month, it was reported that Rotundo had suffered a lacerated kidney, and was expected to be absent for several months to recuperate.[17]

Rotundo returned at the tapings of the January 29, 2012, episode of FCW television, declaring his intentions to reclaim the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship.[18] On February 2, Rotundo and his brother, renamed Husky Harris, defeated Brad Maddox and Eli Cottonwood to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship for the second time.[11][19] The brothers held the championship until March 15, when they lost it to Corey Graves and Jake Carter.[11] In May 2012, Rotundo made several appearances at WWE house shows, defeating Drew McIntyre.[20][21] At an FCW live event on June 16 Dallas defeated Rick Victor to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship for the third time, right after Victor had just defeated Seth Rollins for the title.[22] He lost the title back to Victor on July 13.[23]

NXT (2012–2014)

In 2012, WWE rebranded FCW as WWE NXT, and Dallas made his NXT television debut in June; portraying a happy-go-lucky and resilient character, he defeated Rick Victor.[24][25][3] In August, Dallas competed in a tournament to crown the first NXT Champion; he was eliminated by Jinder Mahal in the quarter-finals.[26] On the November 7 episode of NXT, Dallas competed in a number one contenders fatal four-way elimination match against Mahal, Drew McIntyre, and Justin Gabriel; despite eliminating McIntyre and Gabriel, Dallas succumbed to Mahal.[27]

On January 26, 2013, at WWE's Royal Rumble Fanfest, Dallas participated in a eight-man NXT tournament for a place in the 2013 Royal Rumble match; he defeated Luke Harper, Conor O'Brian, and Leo Kruger to win the tournament.[28] The next day, Dallas entered the Rumble match at number 16, where he lasted over 20 minutes and eliminated the WWE Intercontinental Champion, Wade Barrett, who returned to the ring and eliminated Dallas.[29] This provoked a brief feud, with Barrett challenging Dallas to a non-title match the next night on Raw, in which Dallas earned a upset victory in his first singles match on Raw.[30] On the February 11 episode of Raw Dallas appeared, attacking Barrett before Barrett's match against Kofi Kingston. Dallas later challenged Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship, but was defeated.[31]

Simultaneously with his feud with Barrett, Dallas entered the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament alongside Michael McGillicutty. The pair defeated Primo and Epico to advance to the semi-finals, but lost to the Wyatt Family (Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) due to Bray Wyatt's interference.[32][33] In an NXT Championship number one contender's three-way match against Conor O'Brian and Corey Graves, Dallas was prevented from winning by Wyatt, due to Dallas' earlier refusal to join The Wyatt Family.[34] This resulted in a match between Dallas and Wyatt, which Dallas won.[35] Starting in late April 2013, the NXT audience began to turn against Dallas (despite Dallas not changing his character) and started booing him.[36][37] NXT Tag Team Champion Adrian Neville chose Dallas to replace his injured partner, Oliver Grey, but on May 8, they lost the title to The Wyatt Family.[38][39] Soon after, Dallas' character began showing subtle villainous traits of being disingenuous.[40][41][42]

On the May 29 episode of NXT, Dallas won a battle royal to becomee the number one contender to the NXT Championship.[41] On NXT on June 12 (taped on May 23), Dallas defeated Big E Langston to become the new NXT Champion.[43][44] He successfully defended the championship against Antonio Cesaro and Leo Kruger during mid-2013. [45][46] By then, the NXT audience's dislike of Dallas had grown to the point of the crowd literally turning their backs on him while cheering all his opponents, regardless of who he faced.[45][47][48] In September, Dallas held an open challenge to determine his next title contender but banned Sami Zayn from competing,[49] so Zayn masqueraded as the masked El Local and defeated Dallas to earn his title shot.[50] The match occurred on the October 16 episode of NXT, and Dallas retained his title by sending Zayn into an exposed turnbuckle.[51] Dallas then faced Adrian Neville in December and lost by countout to retain his title.[52] In a rematch at NXT Arrival in February 2014, Dallas lost the title to Neville, and failed to regain it in a rematch on NXT on March 27. The following month, Dallas attempted to "Occupy NXT", but the crowd turned their backs on him, and he was forced into a match against Justin Gabriel, which he won.[53] Beginning to throw tantrums after failing to get his own way, he was put in a match against Big E on May 22. Dallas subsequently lost the match and was forced to leave NXT as a result. In June, he attempted to return to NXT by appearing as the masked character "Mr. NXT", but was exposed by Zayn and forced to leave.

Main roster and various feuds (2014–present)

Bo Dallas in September 2014

Starting on the April 7 episode of Raw, WWE started airing motivational-style introductory vignettes for Dallas.[54] Dallas' return to the main roster was in a winning effort, as he defeated Sin Cara on the May 23 episode of SmackDown as well as the May 26 episode of Raw. Dallas made his first pay-per-view appearance at Payback, where he was scheduled to face Kofi Kingston. However, the match never happened due to interference from Kane. Dallas would face Kingston the following night on Raw in a winning effort. Following his début on the main roster, Dallas began an undefeated streak, picking up wins over R-Truth, Fandango, Titus O'Neil, El Torito, Damien Sandow, and The Great Khali. Dallas established himself as a heel when he attacked El Torito after his match against Diego on the July 4 episode of SmackDown. At Battleground, Dallas participated in the 19-man battle royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship; he managed to eliminate Sin Cara and Titus O'Neil before being the 16th person eliminated after being thrown out by Dolph Ziggler. Dallas' undefeated streak was ended by R-Truth on the July 28 episode of Raw, prompting a small feud between the two. In late August, Dallas began tormenting Jack Swagger about his loss to Rusev at SummerSlam after Swagger's matches.[55][56] Dallas began feuding with Mark Henry after defeating him on the September 29 episode of Raw, tormenting him like he did Swagger following Henry's losses to Rusev at Night of Champions. On the October 7 episode of Main Event, Dallas unsuccessfully challenged Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. Dallas then went on to pick up three more wins over Henry in both singles and tag team matches, before being quickly defeated by Henry in a match on the Hell in a Cell pre-show.[57]

After a four month absence due to a foot injury, Dallas made his televised return on the WrestleMania 31 pre-show in March 2015, competing in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal where he was eliminated by Hideo Itami.[58] Dallas later reappeared at Extreme Rules, where he was quickly defeated by Ryback.

Personal life

On February 19, 2012, Rotunda was arrested for driving under the influence in Tampa, Florida, with blood-alcohol levels of 0.166 and 0.178 according to two breathalyser tests, more than twice the legal limit.[1][59] He was released later that day on a $500 bond.[60]

In wrestling

Dallas performing the "Bo-Dog" on Damien Sandow
Dallas celebrating after a win

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Arrest Report". Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Bo Dallas". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 6/20 – Week 1 of new season: Kidd vs. McGillicutty main event, Ross & Regal on commentary". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Taylor Rotunda profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Bo Dallas". WWE. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 LaRiviere, Derek J. (November 26, 2009). "Brooksville's Rotunda brothers follow dad Mike into professional wrestling". Tampa Bay Sports. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Murphy, David (September 14, 2007). "'He's got the look'". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  8. ↑ Bernhardt, Jr., Chris (June 12, 2009). "Hernando High alumni ready to hit the ring". Hernando Today. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 "Florida Championship Wrestling (2009)". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Florida Championship Wrestling (2010)". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 "Champions Roll Call". Florida Championship Wrestling. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Superstar of the Week: Lucky Cannon". Florida Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  13. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (July 26, 2011). "Spoilers: WWE Superstars for July 28". WrestleView. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  14. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (August 17, 2011). "Smackdown spoilers from Bakersfield". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  15. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (August 24, 2011). "SPOILERS: WWE Superstars for August 25". WrestleView. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Superstars of the Week: Leo Kruger". Florida Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  17. ↑ Martin, Adam (September 10, 2011). "Report: Rotundo out of action for several months". WrestleView. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  18. ↑ Namako, Jason (January 30, 2012). "FCW Results – 1/29/12". WrestleView. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Meltzer, Dave (February 2, 2012). "Two title changes at tonight's FCW tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  20. ↑ Gerweck, Steve (May 6, 2012). "5/5 WWE Results: Asheville, North Carolina". WrestleView. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  21. ↑ Gerweck, Steve (May 6, 2012). "5/6 WWE Results: Charleston, South Carolina". WrestleView. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  22. ↑ "FCW Heavyweight Title Changes Hands Twice, Recent WWE Attendance and More". June 20, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Rick Victor wins FCW Heavyweight Championship for the second time".
  24. ↑ "WWE News: FCW name being phased out". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  25. ↑ Chiverton, George. "NXT weekly ranking & evaluation 6/20 – New NXT Week 1: Early impressions from new cast of FCW talent". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  26. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT results 8/8 – Week 8: Gold Rush tournament continues, Hero, Paige, Gabriel vs. McGillicutty, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  27. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 11/7 – Week 20: Four-Way #1 contender match, Brodie Lee debuts, Vickie's bounty, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  28. ↑ Murphy, Ryan. "WWE NXT: 8-man tournament Royal Rumble match results". WWE. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  29. ↑ Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Royal Rumble PPV results 1/27: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Punk vs. Rock, 30-man Rumble". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  30. ↑ Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Raw results 1/28: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – Huge Return ends Raw, Rock's first night as WWE champ, Raw Roulette, Heyman-McMahon". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  31. ↑ Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 4/25/13 (Clash of Champions edition)". WrestleView. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  32. ↑ James, Justin (January 31, 2013). "James's WWE NXT Results 1/30: Tournament continues, Bo Dallas in main event, returns of Bateman, A-Ry & Mason Ryan". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  33. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 2/6 – Week 32: Tag Tournament continues, Bo Dallas's main-roster debut carries over, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  34. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT results 3/6: Main Event #1 contender match to NXT Title, Shield delivers a message, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  35. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 3/13 – Week 37: Champ vs. Champ, Brother vs. Brother, plus Hero vs. Bateman; Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  36. ↑ Pilkington, Chris. "WWE NXT results recap: Jumping Geordie Adrian Neville flies high in Antonio Cesaro clash with shock result". The Mirror. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  37. ↑ Chiverton, George. "Chiverton's NXT scouting report: Latest Rankings & Evaluation of top WWE prospects, plus insight on potential new WWE signees Callihan & Del Sol". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  38. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 4/3 – Week 40: Big E. defends NXT Title, final hype for Regal-Ohno, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  39. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 5/8 Week 45: Wyatt Family captures Tag Titles, Ohno turning face?, Sandow in action, Paige vs. Summer Rae feud continues, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  40. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 5/15 & 5/22: El Generico debuts, O'Brian beats two NXT releases in same match, Bray Wyatt debuts mask, Natalya vs. Rae, more developments". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT results 5/29 & 6/5: Wyatts defend Tag Titles, NXT Women's Title introduced, #1 contender battle royal, Parade of released NXT wrestlers in matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  42. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT results 6/19: Wyatts vs. Ohno & Graves & Neville six-man tag, Summer Rae wins tourney match, El Generico, Xavier Woods, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  43. ↑ Caldwell, James (May 24, 2013). "WWE News: Spoiler on the NXT Title". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  44. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 6/12: Bo Dallas captures NXT Title from Big E., outstanding Generico vs. Cesaro match, Women's Title tournament continues, Wyatts". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Pilkington, Chris. "NXT results recap: Bo Dallas retains NXT title in hard-hitting encounter with Antonio Cesaro". The Mirror. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  46. ↑ Trionfo, Richard. "WWE NXT report; United States title on the line; NXT title on the line; dance supremacy in NXT on the line; Tyler Breeze is Tyler Breeze; and more". PWInsider. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  47. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 6/26 – Week 52: Ohno & Graves, Big E. squash, Women's tourney continues, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  48. ↑ "WWE NXT results – 6/27/13 (#1 contenders match)". WrestleView. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  49. ↑ James, Justin (September 27, 2013). "James's WWE NXT report 9/25 – Week 65: Triple H makes "big announcement," Ohno/Hero returns, Zayn/Generico in action, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  50. ↑ Trionfo, Richard (October 2, 2013). "WWE NXT report: tag title match; the Bo Dallas challenge; and dancing". PWInsider. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 51.3 Trionfo, Richard (October 17, 2013). "WWE NXT report: Zayn versus Dallas; tag title rematch; divas tag action; Breeze versus Parker". PWInsider. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  52. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 12/4 – Week 75: Bo Dallas vs. Neville NXT Title match, Kidd in action, Paige vs. Natalya full-length Divas match, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  53. ↑ "James's WWE NXT report 4/10 – Week 93: Bo Dallas breaks down, Mojo gets hyped, Neville-Brodus feud continues, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  54. ↑ Caldwell, James. "Raw news: Bryan's first night as champ, Taker update, Cesaro joins Heyman, Warrior returns, RVD returns, Paige debuts & wins Divas Title, other NXT intros, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  55. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (August 25, 2014). "WWE RAW Results – 8/25/14 (John Cena returns to action)". WrestleView.
  56. ↑ Trionfo, Richard (September 1, 2014). "WWE Raw report: growing up Bella,; The Highlight Reel; a new American hero; and more". PWInsider.
  57. ↑ Silberkleit, Jared (October 26, 2014). "Mark Henry vs. Bo Dallas". Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  58. ↑ Trionfo, Richard (March 29, 2015). "WWE WrestleMnia 31 Kick Off show report: tag title match, Andre the Giant memorial battle royal, Lita in the social media lounge, and more". PWInsider. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  59. ↑ "Pro wrestler Rotunda charged with drunken driving". The Tampa Tribune. February 19, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  60. ↑ Caldwell, James (February 19, 2012). "WWE developmental wrestler arrested on DUI charge". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  61. ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "Bo Dallas def. Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett in a Player's Choice Match". WWE. Retrieved February 6, 2013. ... the young gun showed his moxie by ... surprising the champion with a pin when he countered the Bull Hammer into a belly-to-belly suplex.
  62. ↑ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT Results 1/30: Tournament continues, Bo Dallas in main event, returns of Bateman, A-Ry & Mason Ryan". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 6, 2013. Dallas with a belly-to-belly suplex out of nowhere for the win.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 4/25/13 (Clash of Champions edition)". WrestleView. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 6/13/13 (Big E vs. Bo Dallas – NXT Title)". WrestleView. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  65. ↑ Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results – 4/10/14 (Bo Dallas occupies NXT)". WrestleView. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  66. ↑ "Bo Dallas". WWE NXT. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  67. ↑ Namako, Jason (February 6, 2012). "FCW Results – 2/6/12". WrestleView. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  68. ↑ "Anthing". iTunes. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  69. ↑ "WWE: "Shoot For The Stars (Bo Dallas)"". iTunes.
  70. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2014". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  71. ↑ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 8/29 – Week 11: First NXT champion crowned in big-match setting". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 8, 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bo Dallas.