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'''"Hard Rock" Ricky Blues''' is a semi-retired [[United States|American]] [[professional wrestler]] and [[trainer]] who competed in the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] and [[Mid-Atlantic United States|Mid-Atlantic]] [[independent circuit]] during the 1990s and 2000s. He is regarded as a pioneering cruiserweight wrestler and dominated the [[Baltimore]]-area, especially in the [[Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation]] and [[Maryland Championship Wrestling]], in the early-to-mid 1990s. He also wrestled for [[Larry Sharpe]]'s World Wrestling Association and for [[Doug Flex]] and Brick Bronsky in International Pro Wrestling.
'''"Hard Rock" Ricky Blues''' is a semi-retired [[United States|American]] [[professional wrestler]] and [[trainer]] who competed in the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] and [[Mid-Atlantic United States|Mid-Atlantic]] [[independent circuit]] during the 1990s and 2000s. He is regarded as a pioneering [[Cruiserweight (professional wrestling)|cruiserweight wrestler]] and dominated the [[Baltimore]]-area, especially in the [[Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation]] and [[Maryland Championship Wrestling]], in the early-to-mid 1990s. He also wrestled for [[Larry Sharpe]]'s World Wrestling Association and for [[Doug Flex]] and Brick Bronsky in International Pro Wrestling.


He was the first [[MEWF Heavyweight Championship|MEWF Heavyweight]] and [[MEWF Light Heavyweight Championship|Light Heavyweight Champion]] and a 2-time [[MEWF Tag Team Championship|MEWF Tag Team Champion]] with Nick Tarentino and [[Tom Brandi|The New Patriot]]. He and Nick Tarentino, as Sonic Express, were a successful tag team during his early career and together won both the MEWF and WWA Tag Team titles in 1993.
He was the first [[MEWF Heavyweight Championship|MEWF Heavyweight]] and [[MEWF Light Heavyweight Championship|Light Heavyweight Champion]] and a 2-time [[MEWF Tag Team Championship|MEWF Tag Team Champion]] with Nick Tarentino and [[Tom Brandi|The New Patriot]]. He and Nick Tarentino, as Sonic Express, were a successful tag team during his early career and together won both the MEWF and WWA Tag Team titles in 1993.

Revision as of 22:03, 25 May 2010

Ricky Blues
BornBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)"Hard Rock" Ricky Blues
"Street Punk" Ricky Blues
Ricky Blues, Sr.
Debutc. 1990
Retiredc. 2000

"Hard Rock" Ricky Blues is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and trainer who competed in the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit during the 1990s and 2000s. He is regarded as a pioneering cruiserweight wrestler and dominated the Baltimore-area, especially in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation and Maryland Championship Wrestling, in the early-to-mid 1990s. He also wrestled for Larry Sharpe's World Wrestling Association and for Doug Flex and Brick Bronsky in International Pro Wrestling.

He was the first MEWF Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion and a 2-time MEWF Tag Team Champion with Nick Tarentino and The New Patriot. He and Nick Tarentino, as Sonic Express, were a successful tag team during his early career and together won both the MEWF and WWA Tag Team titles in 1993.

Blues influenced a number of future high-flying cruiserweights and, as an instructor at the Brainbusters Wrestling School, helped train future Ring of Honor star Ruckus. In 2009, he was inducted into the Maryland Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Career

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (1991-1999)

Ricky Blues made his professional debut around 1990 and spend his first year in various East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions. The following year, he began wrestling for the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation and, on October 11, 1991, appeared on its debut show in Pasadena, Maryland where he defeated Adrian Hall to become the first Light Heavyweight Champion.[1][2] Though he was stripped of the title within a few months, he beat Agent Orange in Odenton on January 18, 1992, to be crowned the first MEWF Heavyweight Champion.[1][3]

Later that year, Blues began teaming with Nick Tarentino as Sonic Express. On October 23, they unsuccessfully challenged Leather & Lace (Rich Carlisle and Adrian Hall) in Essex, Maryland for the then vacant MEWF Tag Team Championship, however, they won the titles a month later in Gaithersburg. They had faced Rich Carlisle and Ricki Lane who substituted for an injured Adrian Hall. After a near 4-month reign, they lost the titles to The Outrageous Ones (Ricki Lane and Quinn Nash) in Dundalk on March 6, 1993.[1][4][5] Two months later in Larry Sharpe's World Wrestling Association, they defeated Chris Evans & Chris Candido in Williamstown, New Jersey for the promotion's tag team titles. They dropped the titles to The Super Jocks (Ed Atlas & Chris Weider) in Clementon on June 4, 1993.[1][6]

Over the next few years, Blues would have memorable bouts against some of the region's top stars including Chad Austin,[7] Corporal Punishment and Steve Corino.[8] On November 14, 1998, Blues lost to Adam Flash in Hampstead, Maryland in a match for the vacant MEWF Mid-Atlantic Championship.[9] A year later, he and The New Patriot defeated Max Thrasher & Dino Casanova on November 13, 1999.[1][4]

Maryland Championship Wrestling and semi-retirement (2000-2009)

Around this time, creative differences and salary disputes with the MEWF[10] caused Corporal Punishment and Mark Shrader to leave the promotion and took half its roster with them to form Maryland Championship Wrestling. By early-2000, Blues began wrestling for MCW facing Christian York[11] and Joey Matthews in singles matches in April. In both these matches, Blues was noticeably distracted by fans and, in his April 15th match against Matthews, he left the ring in mid-match to argue with hecklers at ringside.[12]

Blues took on MCW Heavyweight Champion The Bruiser two months later at a special MCW show near Ocean City, Maryland on June 10, 2000. Though Blues and The Bruiser headlined the show, WWF legends George "the Animal" Steele, Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah made an appearance as did Xtreme Pro Wrestling valet Chastity.[13][14] On July 19, Blues wrestled Balls Mahoney at the 2000 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup in Glen Burnie.[15] Over the summer, Blues also had a series of matches against Adam Flash.[16] One of these, a No-DQ match in Ocean City, was later featured on The Indies: The Best Of 1997 - 2000 video series.[17][18]

On August 25, a rematch against The Bruiser in Odenton again ended in defeat. The next month in Glen Burnie, he wrestled Gillberg at Micheal’s Eighth Avenue on September 27, 2000.[16] After the match, Blues was approached by manager Platinum Nat offered his services to "guide [him] to the next level". Blues accepted and was welcomed into the manager's "heel" stable, The Congregation, with The Holy Rollers (Earl the Pearl & Rich Myers).[19] However, Blues did not remain with The Congregation for very long as he soon went into retirement by the end of the year

After nearly a decade, Blues was formerly inducted into the Maryland Wrestling Hall of Fame at a special ceremony held at the New Green Room in Dundalk. Later that night, he defeated his old rival Agent Orange at the New Green Room in Dundalk on November 7, 2009.[20][21] Blues made a second appearance at MCW's MCW "Xtreme Rules" supercard where he defeated Ricky Blues Jr. on April 4, 2010.[22][23]

Championships and accomplishments

  • World Wrestling Association
    • WWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Nick Tarentino[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2000). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ a b Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2004). "MEWF Light Heavyweight / Maryland Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2004). "MEWF Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2004). "MEWF Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Martinez, Ryan (2010-03-06). "This Day In History: Fred Blassie VS. Rocky Johnson, Public Enemy Win Their First ECW Tag Team Championship And More". PWInsider.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  6. ^ a b "W.W.A. Tag Team Title (New Jersey)". The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Wrestling-Titles.com. 2003. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  7. ^ Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (Producer) (1994). MEWF Kenwood Khaos Raw Footage (DVD). Maryland: Tim's Video Collection.
  8. ^ Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (Producer) (1996). Mid Eastern Wrestling Federation 1996 (VHS). Maryland: TCTapes.net.
  9. ^ Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2004). "MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Shady, Chunk (2004-03-29). "The Inside Credle Report: Entertainment, Honey's and Wrestling from the Bad Boys of Baltimore!". BelowTheBeltShow.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-04.
  11. ^ Blues, Ricky, and Christian York, perf. MCW - April 8, 2000 - Catonsville, MD. Prod. Maryland Championship Wrestling. 2000. SmartMarkVideo.com. DVD.
  12. ^ Russell, Yekaterina (2000-04-17). "Show Results". The Official Homepage of Joey Matthews and Christian York. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  13. ^ Furguson, Anita (2000-06-09). "Pro wrestlers take the stage at Bally's" (PDF). Ocean City Today. MarylandWrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  14. ^ Tavares, Michael (2000-06-13). "Moolah, Mae Young And Gillberg Team Up". The WAWLI (Wrestling As We Liked It) Papers No. 745. WrestlingClassics.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  15. ^ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). MCW 07/19/2000 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 2000 (VHS). Maryland: Jeff's Wrestling Tape Trader.
  16. ^ a b Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). Tapes 1109-1134 (VHS). Maryland: TCTapes.net.
  17. ^ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2000). Best Of - "The Indies: The Best Of 1997 - 2000" (3 DISC-SET) (DVD). Maryland: WrestlingDVD.net.
  18. ^ (Producer) (2000). Best of the Independents 2000, Volume 2 (DVD). Maryland: Coliseum of Wrestling & Boxing.
  19. ^ Hillie, Marcel; Schneider, Phil; Rippa, Phil (2000-10-28). "MCW 10/28/00 – Micheal's Eighth Avenue, Glen Burnie, MD". On the Road. DeathValleyDriver.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  20. ^ Maryland Championship Wrestling (Producer) (2009). MCW Legends of Maryland 11/7/09 Dundalk, MD (DVD). Maryland: RF Video.
  21. ^ Burrows, Joe (2009). "Maryland Championship Wrestling". Miscellaneous Independent Results. OnlineWorldofWrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  22. ^ Meltzer, Dave (2010). "MON. UPDATE: UFC counters Strikeforce; Raw vs. Impact; New show starts Thursday; TNA house shows". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. F4Wonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  23. ^ "MCW Xtreme Rules Results". Local Indy Wrestling News/Events/Results. KLQwrestling.com. 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
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