Nathan Jones (wrestler)
| Nathan Jones | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ring name(s) | Nathan Jones |
| Billed height | 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) |
| Billed weight | 156 kg (340 lb; 24.6 st) |
| Born | 21 August 1969 [1] Gold Coast, Queensland Australia[2] |
| Trained by | Ultimate Pro Wrestling[1] Mike Bell[2] Tom Howard[2] The Undertaker |
| Debut | 11 October 1997[1] |
| Retired | 2005 |
| Competition record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strongman | |||
Competitor for  Australia |
|||
| World's Strongest Man | |||
| Qualified | 1995 World's Strongest Man | ||
| Qualified | 1996 World's Strongest Man | ||
| World Strongman Challenge | |||
| 1st | 1996 | ||
| World Strength Championship | |||
| 1st | 1995 | ||
| World Muscle Power Classic | |||
| 5th | 1995 | ||
| Australia's Strongest Man | |||
| 1st | 1995 | ||
| Callender Grand Prix | |||
| 1st | 1994 | ||
Nathan Jones (born 21 August 1969) is an Australian actor, powerlifting champion, strongman, and retired professional wrestler. Jones held the WWA World Heavyweight Championship once during his stunt in World Wrestling All-Stars.
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Before his career as a wrestler, Jones was sentenced to 16 years in 1987 at Boggo Road Gaol for eight armed robberies between 1985–1987, two of which occurred in Tasmania. During the robberies, he became one of Australia's most wanted and ended up serving seven years in a maximum-security prison, in 1994 Jones was given one year work release, before being discharged.[3] While in prison, he was introduced to the sport of powerlifting. Within a short space of time, he became the National Powerlifting Champion of Australia.
Strongman career [edit]
Jones also began competing in strongman contests and during this time, he was dubbed "The Megaman" for his imposing physique, 211 cm (6’ 11”) tall and 159 kg; 355 pounds (25 stone). As the reigning Australia's Strongest Man, he entered the World Strength Championship at Callander, Scotland from 29–30 July 1995. He took first place, topping a field that included 1993 World's Strongest Man Gary Taylor. The following weekend, he competed in the World Muscle Power Classic held at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. That contest was won by Magnús Ver Magnússon, with Nathan finishing fifth in a field of twelve competitors.[4]
Jones next took part in the 1995 World's Strongest Man contest. After quickly defeating Phil Martin twice in the arm wrestling event in the qualifying heat, Jones was then matched against Magnus Samuelsson, who had been Europe's arm wrestling champion for several years and who would become the World's Strongest Man in 1998. Samuelsson won the first round. In the second round Jones refused to go down and pulled with his opposite arm, twisting his body. This resulted in breaking the arm he was using to wrestle (a spiral fracture of the humerus),[5] and he subsequently was out of the competition. Jones returned to Strongman competition in 1996 winning the World Strongman Challenge, and placed third in a World's Strongest Man qualifying heat behind Magnús Ver Magnússon and Jorma Ojanaho.[6]
He also participated in a mixed martial arts match at KRS-Pride's debut event Pride 1 in October 1997, submitting to Japanese professional wrestler, and former sumo wrestler Koji Kitao in his only match.
Professional wrestling career [edit]
World Wrestling All-Stars and Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX (2001–2002) [edit]
After working as a bodyguard for multimillionaire Rene Rivkin, Jones began a career in wrestling during this time. Jones first gained fame working in World Wrestling All-Stars, making a large impression at the first WWA pay-per-view "Inception", where he was accompanied to the ring by Rove McManus. However he was defeated after Rove was smashed with Jeff Jarrett's guitar and Jones was hit with the Stroke.[7]
During his time in the WWA, Nathan won the WWA World Heavyweight Championship on 7 April 2002 before losing the belt to Scott Steiner only 5 days later.[7] After the title loss, Jones began performing for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX in June.[8] On 20 October, Jones and Jon Heidenreich defeated Masato Tanaka and Shinjiro Otani to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship.[8] On 25 October, Jones and Heidenreich successfully retained the title against Jimmy Snuka, Jr. and The Predator before losing the title the next day to Naoya Ogawa and Shinya Hashimoto.[8]
World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2003) [edit]
In late 2002 and early 2003, Jones began performing in dark matches for World Wrestling Entertainment.[1][7][8] On the 8 April episode of SmackDown!, Jones made his televised WWE debut and defeated Bill DeMott.[1][7] Upon debuting, Jones' was put into an angle with The Undertaker as he became Undertaker's storyline protégé in order to feud with A-Train and The Big Show, Undertaker's enemies at the time. At WrestleMania XIX, Jones and Undertaker were scheduled to face Big Show and A-Train in a tag team match, but Jones was attacked pre-match and left injured.[1] Near the closing moments of the match, Jones reappeared and attacked Big Show, enabling Undertaker to pin A-Train for the victory.[1]
After winning a match on SmackDown! by disqualification, the Full Blooded Italians attacked Jones and, in storyline, shattered his ankle with the ring steps.[1] In reality, Jones was to sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling to improve his skills.[1]
Jones was then absent from television for several months until returning as a villain known by the nickname "The Colossus of Boggo Road", a title referring to his time spent in Boggo Road Gaol. Upon returning, he was immediately placed into Brock Lesnar's Survivor Series team, which also included A-Train, Big Show, and Matt Morgan in order to compete against Lesnar's rival Kurt Angle and his team. At Survivor Series, Team Lesnar was defeated by Team Angle and Jones was then relegated to interfere in Lesnar's matches along with the other members of Team Lesnar. He was also placed in matches by either Lesnar or Heyman to aid them.
On 6 December 2003, Jones quit the company due to the rigor of WWE's heavy travel schedules while on the WWE Passport to SmackDown! Tour in Perth, Australia.[2][9]
Post-WWE and retirement [edit]
After leaving WWE, Jones was scheduled to make his pro wrestling return in 2004 at the Australian Wrestling Supershow III, booked against Mark Mercedes. Jones did not appear as advertised and a battle royal was held following an angry shoot promo on Jones by Mercedes and promoter Andy Raymond.
In 2005, he wrestled three matches for World Series Wrestling. On 5 October, he defeated Lee Star and on 7 October and 8 October, he defeated Mark Hilton.[7] After his last match with Hilton, Jones immediately retired from wrestling.[2]
Media [edit]
Acting career [edit]
- Police Story 4: First Strike (1996) as Hitman[10]
- Doom Runners (1997) as Vike[10]
- Troy (2004) as Boagrius[10][1]
- Tom-Yum-Goong aka The Protector, aka The Warrior King (2005) as T.K.[10]
- Fearless (2006) as Hercules O'Brien[10][1]
- The Condemned (2007) as Petr Raudsep[10][1]
- Somtum the film AKA Muay thai Giant (2008) as Barney Emerald[10]
- Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008) as Humungus[10]
- Tekken - as Craig Marduk
- Conan the Barbarian (2011) – as Akhun
- Boologam (2013)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2013) as Rictus Erectus
Mixed martial arts record [edit]
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 1 match | 0 wins | 1 loss |
| By submission | 0 | 1 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 |  Kōji Kitao |
Submission (keylock) | PRIDE 1 | October 11, 1997 | 1 | 2:14 | Tokyo, Japan |
Personal life [edit]
Jones holds a degree in economics.[2]
In wrestling [edit]
- Finishing moves
- Signature moves
- Managers
- Rove McManus
- Paul Heyman
- Ashley Henning
Championships and accomplishments [edit]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #137 of the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Most Embarrassing Wrestler (2003)
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "OWOW profile".
- ^ a b c d e f g "Cagematch profile".
- ^ Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling. Shns.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-23.
- ^ Milo, October 1995, pp. 37–42
- ^ Milo January 1996, pp. 41–46
- ^ World's Strongest Man competition page. Strongestman.billhenderson.org. Retrieved on 2011-10-23.
- ^ a b c d e "Cagematch match listings".
- ^ a b c d "Cagematch match listings, page 2".
- ^ Madigan, TJ (13 December 2003). "TJ Ain't Bob Hope". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nathan Jones (I). IMDB.com
- ^ Waldman, Jon (28 November 2003). "Smackdown!: Battle royal mayhem". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ a b "Cagematch title listings".
External links [edit]
- Nathan Jones at the Internet Movie Database
- Professional MMA record for Nathan Jones (wrestler) from Sherdog
| Preceded by Bill Lyndon |
Australia's Strongest Man 1995 |
Succeeded by Bill Lyndon |
|
|||||||||||
- 1970 births
- Australian people of Welsh descent
- Australian mixed martial artists
- Super heavyweight mixed martial artists
- Living people
- Powerlifters
- Australian strength athletes
- People from the Gold Coast, Queensland
- Australian male professional wrestlers
- Sportspeople from Queensland
- Australian strongmen
- Norths Devils players
