Charlie Haas

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This article is about the professional wrestler. For the film and television director, see Charles F. Haas. For the screenwriter, see Charles S. Haas.
Charlie Haas
An image of Charlie Haas.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Charlie Haas[1]
R.C. Haas[1]
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Billed weight 249 lb (113 kg)[2]
Born March 27, 1972 (1972-03-27) (age 37)[3]
Houston, Texas[4]
Resides Houston, Texas
Billed from Dallas, Texas[2]
Edmond, Oklahoma
Trained by Jim Kettner[1]
John Smith[1]
"Iron" Mike Sharpe[1]
Vince Sylva[1]
Jim Rogers[1]
Debut 1996[1]

Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas II[4] (born on March 27, 1972)[3] is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand.[2]

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Independent circuit

Main article: The Haas Brothers

Haas regularly teamed with his brother Russ for numerous independent promotions, most notably Jim Kettner's East Coast Wrestling Association, before they signed with World Wrestling Entertainment. The two worked their way through the tag ranks in the WWE's developmental territories, Heartland Wrestling Association and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Russ died from a heart attack, due to a pre-existing heart condition, on December 15, 2001 at age 27.[5][6] To honor the memory of his fallen brother, Charlie began using the name "R.C. Haas" (standing for Russ–Charlie) before being called up to the main WWE roster.[1]

[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2005)

Haas debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment on the December 26, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as a heel along with Shelton Benjamin as "Team Angle".[2] The tag team was the "contingency plan" of Paul Heyman, and were intended to help WWE Champion Kurt Angle retain his title, attacking Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar in an attempt to soften them up. Angle eventually fired Team Angle after he turned face and they began to question his leadership. The duo then dubbed themselves "The World's Greatest Tag Team", although announcers made sure to add "Self Proclaimed" to the name. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship on two occasions[7] before being separated when Benjamin was moved to Raw as part of the 2004 Draft Lottery.[8]

Haas with World's Greatest Tag Team partner Shelton Benjamin.

Haas eventually turned face and with his valet Miss Jackie by his side, teamed with Rico to win the tag team titles once again.[7] After Rico was released from his contract, Haas struck out on his own again, still accompanied by Miss Jackie. Haas would come out the loser in a match against Luther Reigns at the Great American Bash.[9]

Haas was later involved in an angle in which he was in a love triangle with Miss Jackie (acknowledged on air as his fiancée) and Dawn Marie. The story culminated when Haas served as the referee in a match at Armageddon 2004 between the two women.[10] After the match, Haas left both women (for kayfabe purposes; his off-screen relationship with Miss Jackie continued). At the same time, he had formed a tag team with Hardcore Holly.[11] They feuded with MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but never won the titles.[12][13]

On July 8, 2005, Haas was released by World Wrestling Entertainment along with his wife, Jackie Gayda.[14][15]

[edit] Independent circuit and Jersey All Pro Wrestling (2005)

Haas in the WrestleMania XXV Fan Axxess.

He returned to Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) that same month,[16] and began a feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship with Jay Lethal. On September 10 at JAPW Haas of Pain, Lethal defeated Haas to retain his title.[17] In JAPW, on October 27, 2007, Haas was inducted along with his late brother Russ into the first class of the Jersey All Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.[18]

He won the Natural Heavyweight Championship at Ballpark Brawl V on August 13, 2005, defeating then-champion Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin in a triple threat match.[19] He successfully defended the title the next night at Ballpark Brawl VI against Harry Smith with Mick Foley as a referee.[20][21] He was stripped of this title when he returned to WWE, and has thus far been the only man to successfully defend the title.

During his time back in the independent circuit, Haas competed in the East Coast Wrestling Association's (ECWA) Super 8 Tournament in 2006, where he advanced all the way to the finals before losing to Davey Richards.[22]

In November 2005, Haas became the temporary head trainer for Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW) in Arlington, alongside TNA superstar Lance Hoyt. Haas made his PCW debut in January defeating Lance Hoyt. He also wrestled more matches with PCW wrestlers Mike Foxx, Mace Malone, Eddie Atlas, and Stephen Murphy, just days before his return to WWE in April.

[edit] Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–present)

[edit] Singles competition (2005–2006)

Haas calls to the crowd following a hot tag from long-time partner Shelton Benjamin in late 2007.

In late December 2005, Haas re-signed with WWE, returning to OVW on February 22, 2006. He returned to WWE television on the April 17, 2006, episode of Raw as Rob Van Dam's handpicked opponent for his former partner, Shelton Benjamin. Haas defeated Benjamin in the ensuing match.[23] Haas continued to wrestle on the lower midcard spot, becoming a regular fixture on Heat.

On the June 5, 2006, edition of Raw, Haas inadvertently knocked Lilian Garcia off the ring apron as he was entering the ring.[24] It was announced on WWE.com that as a result, Garcia suffered a sprained wrist.[24] He received no heat over this as everyone understood it was a legitimate accident. The result was a feud with Garcia's onetime storyline love interest Viscera.[25] Haas made advances towards Garcia, at one point forcefully kissing her and then dropping her to the ground.[26] Haas and Viscera continued to fight for Garcia's affection in the ring, until she stated to the both of them that she wanted to be "just friends".[27] Haas gave Viscera an eye rake in anger, and a blinded Viscera accidentally gave Garcia a Samoan drop.[27] Though it was unintentional, when both Haas and Viscera had seen what had happened to their now former love interest, they simply had a laugh about it.[27] After that, Viscera and Haas became a tag team, usually found competing for the World Tag Team Championship or in random matches on Heat until splitting in December 2006.

[edit] Return of The World's Greatest Tag Team (2006–2007)

Main article: The World's Greatest Tag Team

After Shelton Benjamin won a match against Super Crazy on the December 4, 2006, edition of Raw, Haas came out to celebrate his win with a bewildered Benjamin.[28] Haas and Benjamin announced the return of The World's Greatest Tag Team on the December 11, 2006, edition of Raw, and they defeated The Highlanders in their return match.[29] They then started a feud with Cryme Tyme.[30][31][32] Since the reunion of the World's Greatest Tag Team, Haas began a new gimmick where he looked and acted "wiggerish". Examples of this include speaking in a manner imitative of Ebonics in promos, doing the Westside gang sign in his entrance (despite being from Oklahoma), wearing a Bloods bandana in at least one match, and at one point making his hair into cornrows. However, this minor gimmick was quickly discarded and Haas reverted back to his original look from his first run in WWE. Haas and Benjamin then competed regularly on Raw and Heat, sometimes in singles matches.

The World's Greatest Tag Team feuded briefly with the Hardy Boyz;[33][34] at the One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 3, 2007, they challenged the Hardys for the World Tag Team Championship in a ladder match but came up short.[35] The team broke up once again when Benjamin moved to the ECW brand on November 20, 2007.[36]

[edit] Various gimmicks and return to SmackDown (2008–present)

Haas in November 2008 as Haas Hogan, a parody of Hulk Hogan.

Early in 2008, Haas developed a gimmick in which he would go under the ring in the middle of his matches and re-emerge wearing a mask. In this "alter-ego," Haas would sometimes perform luchador-esque maneuvers in a comical fashion (such as attempting a diving splash, but instead landing on his feet and hitting a standing splash). The opponent would often unmask Haas mid-match, returning him to his normal demeanor. If he managed to retrieve the mask, he would then proceed to squash his opponent. By July 2008, this gimmick was abandoned. Beginning in late August, Haas turned face and began a storyline in which he began to impersonate other wrestlers, a concept created by John Laurinaitis, a WWE executive.[37] His first match under this gimmick was a loss to Carlito's real-life brother Primo Colón, while Haas was parodying Carlito with the name "Charlito", thus beginning a gimmick of parodying the gimmicks of other wrestlers, much like Stevie Richards did in the the original ECW and like Big Show and Kurt Angle did at one point in their WWE careers.[38] He has portrayed such superstars as John Cena, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Jim Ross, The Great Khali, Montel Vontavious Porter, legends such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Hulk Hogan, and even current WWE Diva Beth Phoenix for which he won a Slammy Award.[37][39]

On April 15, 2009, Haas was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft.[40] On the May 8, 2009 episode of SmackDown, Haas made his in-ring return to the brand as a villain, abandoning his persona of imitating other wrestlers, and losing to John Morrison in a match where he was accompanied by his former World's Greatest Tag Team partner, Shelton Benjamin.[41]

[edit] Personal life

Haas competed in amateur wrestling during high school, and for Seton Hall University, where he attended on a wrestling scholarship. He also has various other awards for wrestling from high school.[42][43] Haas was a two-time Big East Champion at Seton Hall and graduated with a degree in economics and business.[43] He then became a stockbroker with Goldman Sachs.[2] According to Haas via the Q&A section on his website, he is a devout Christian.[44]

His grandfather, Hugh Devore, was an assistant with the Houston Oilers and a former Head Coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.[45] On June 10, 2005, Haas married fellow wrestler Jackie Gayda.[14] It was announced on May 5, 2006 that they were expecting their first child. On December 14, 2006 at 3:01 a.m., Gayda gave birth to a daughter, Kayla Jacquelyn Haas, who weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces (2.9 kg), and was 19.5 inches (500 mm) long.[14][46] The couple's second daughter, Taylor Suzanne, was born on September 17, 2008.[47][48] Haas and his wife opened "Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop", a nutritional store in Frisco, Texas on October 1, 2008.[48]

On August 30, 2007, an article on Sports Illustrated's website named Haas as one of ten superstars found to have purchased illegal steroids not in compliance with WWE's Talent Wellness program. He was allegedly prescribed anastrozole, somatropin, stanozolol, nandrolone, and chorionic gonadotropin between August 2006 and January 2007.[49][50] Haas later said that he thought it was legal, and he was doing it for "maintenance" after he had both his knees reconstructed.[37]

[edit] In wrestling

Haas (left) with Rico (center) and Miss Jackie (right).

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

Haas is a three time WWE Tag Team Champion
  • Ballpark Brawl
    • Natural Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[52]
  • Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling
    • PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Russ Haas[56]
  • Phoenix Championship Wrestling
    • Russ Haas Memorial Tag Team Tournament (2002) – with Nova[57]

[edit] References

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  3. ^ a b "Charlie Haas". Gerweck. http://www.gerweck.net/charliehaas.htm. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. 
  4. ^ a b "Charlie Haas Birth Record". Family Tree Legends. http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/txbirths?c=search&first=Charles&last=Haas&spelling=Exact&11_year=1972&11_month=3&11_day=27&4=&14=&SubmitSearch.x=0&SubmitSearch.y=0. Retrieved on 2008-06-25. 
  5. ^ "Russ Haas Found Dead at Age 27". http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/articles/100844543996961.html. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
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  42. ^ setonhalluniversity.com
  43. ^ a b Garcia, Leslie (2009-02-17). "Wrestlers Charlie and Jackie Haas pin down what it takes to stay fit, find balance". The Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/healthyliving2/stories/DN-nh_wrestlers_0217gd.ART.State.Edition1.1e0e17a.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-18. 
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  52. ^ Mike Rickard II (2005-08-13). "Ballpark Brawl V: Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Day!". http://www.gumgod.com/mike_ballpark_brawl_v.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-13. "Haas small packaged Daniels for the pin, winning the title." 
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[edit] External links

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WWE Tag Team Champions
Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit  · Edge and Rey Mysterio  · Los Guerreros (Chavo Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero)  · Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas)  · Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri  · The Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny)  · Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty  · Charlie Haas and Rico  · The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von)  · Billy Kidman and Paul London  · René Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki  · Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam  · Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio  · MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro)  · The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich)  · Batista and Rey Mysterio  · Paul London and Brian Kendrick  · Deuce 'n Domino  · Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter  · John Morrison and The Miz  · Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder  · The Colóns (Carlito and Primo)  · Edge and Chris Jericho (current)
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