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Brian Lee (wrestler)

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Brian Lee
File:BrianLeeWrestlerCropped.png
Birth nameBrian Lee Harris
Born (1966-11-26) November 26, 1966 (age 57)
St. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Brian Lee
Chainz
The Undertaker
Billed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Billed weight328 lb (149 kg)
Debut1988
Retired2003

Brian Lee Harris (born November 26, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Brian Lee and with the World Wrestling Federation as Chainz and an imposter version of The Undertaker.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1988–1991)

Brian Lee made his debut in 1988 for Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1989, the CWA merged with World Class Championship Wrestling to form United States Wrestling Association. He would remain with the USWA until 1991.

World Championship Wrestling (1990–1991)

Brian Lee would make an initial appearance at a WCW taping on April 23, 1990 in Marietta, Georgia when he defeated Bob Cook. He made his debut in World Championship Wrestling's Clash of the Champions XIII on November 20, 1990 losing to The Z-Man. [1]

In November 1991 he returned to the promotion, this time teaming with Chris Sullivan. The duo were defeated by the combination of Diamond Dallas Page and The Diamond Studd in a match that would air on the December 7 edition of World Championship Wrestling.[2]

World Wrestling Federation (1991–1992)

Lee made his first appearance at a TV taping for the World Wrestling Federation's Wrestling Challenge show, losing to Kevin Von Erich. The match appeared to be a tryout for both wrestlers. Lee then wrestled in a dark match against Chris Walker the following day at the 1991 special Tuesday pay-per-view event This Tuesday in Texas.[3] On October 28, 1992 Brian Lee received another tryout at a Wrestling Challenge taping in [4] Louisville, Kentucky and was defeated by Jim Powers.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991–1995)

He appeared in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) from 1992 until 1995 as "Prime Time" Brian Lee. Lee was a two-time SMW Heavyweight Champion and twice won the SMW Tag Team Championship with partner Chris Candido. Lee was the first-ever SMW Heavyweight Champion, and was also the first wrestler to ever be managed by Tammy Sytch.

World Wrestling Federation (1994)

In 1994, he briefly joined the World Wrestling Federation to perform as an impostor version of The Undertaker. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, who originally introduced The Undertaker into the WWF at Survivor Series 1990, claimed to have found The Undertaker, who disappeared after losing a casket match to Yokozuna at the 1994 Royal Rumble. Shortly after this, Lee began appearing dressed as The Undertaker. DiBiase claimed that he had convinced The Undertaker to come back with his vast amounts of money and made him a member of his Million Dollar Corporation, with his powers now derived from DiBiase's riches instead of the urn that he or his manager, Paul Bearer, toted with him to the ring. For several weeks, Lee wrestled matches as The Undertaker while Bearer "made contact" with the real Undertaker and promised to produce him at SummerSlam in August 1994. At the event, Lee's impostor Undertaker faced off against the actual Undertaker and was defeated. After the match, DiBiase fled from ringside while The Undertaker rolled the impostor into a casket that was taken away. Although the idea was for Lee to continue portraying the impostor Undertaker for some time afterward and to have more matches against the actual Undertaker, the WWF dropped the story after SummerSlam.

After SummerSlam, Lee returned to SMW and also returned to the United States Wrestling Association. It was in the USWA that he first teamed with his real life cousins, Ron and Don Harris, then known as the Bruise Brothers.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996–1997)

By early 1996, Lee began competing in Extreme Championship Wrestling. During this period, he went by the nicknames "Prime Time" Brian Lee, "Bulldozer" (or Bulldozer for Hire) and later "Killdozer" and was allied with Raven as a hired bodyguard for his stable.

Lee and Tommy Dreamer then got involved in a very violent and personal feud, which began through Dreamer's feud with Raven. At the ECW event Fight The Power on June 1, during a six-man tag match, Brian Lee chokeslammed Dreamer from the ECW balcony through three stacked tables, then pinned Dreamer for the win. The footage was frequently used during ECW's opening video montage.

On June 22, at Hardcore Heaven, after losing a singles match to Dreamer after Dreamer's valet Beulah McGillicutty got involved, Lee again chokeslammed Dreamer off a balcony through three tables. At Heat Wave, during a three on three "Rage in the Cage" tag team cage match, Lee again chokeslammed Dreamer, this time from the top of the cage through three tables set up on the outside by Raven's henchmen. On October 5 at Ultimate Jeopardy during a tag match also involving Sandman and Stevie Richards, Lee once again chokeslammed Dreamer from the ECW balcony, this time through four tables set up below.

At several house shows released on ECW Fan Cam, Lee and Dreamer had Falls Count Anywhere matches which resulted in the two men brawling in moving traffic outside the building. The feud culminated at ECW's High Incident event, in the match Lee is most remembered for from his ECW tenure. During his Scaffold Match with Dreamer, Lee took a major bump from the scaffolding high above the ring through a series of tables stacked up inside the ring.

At November to Remember, the main event was a tag match pitting Dreamer with Terry Funk against Shane Douglas and Lee. From here, Lee began a feud with Funk, which lasted until 1997. Lee also became a part of the revived Triple Threat stable with Douglas and Chris Candido, while a masked man who was hinted at to be Rick Rude began stalking Douglas. At ECW's ECW Barely Legal, it was revealed that the masked man was Lee himself. He attacked Shane Douglas and kissed Francine before leaving the ring with Rick Rude. Lee left ECW soon after. His spot was subsequently taken by Bam Bam Bigelow.

World Wrestling Federation (1997–1998)

Main article: Disciples of Apocalypse

In 1997, Lee returned to the WWF as Chainz, a member of the biker faction Disciples of Apocalypse (or DOA) along with leader Crush and his cousins, the Harris Brothers, who were renamed Skull and 8-Ball. The foursome feuded with Los Boricuas, the Nation of Domination, and the Truth Commission during the WWF's "Gang Warz" storyline. Lee remained in the WWF until the summer of 1998 when he was released once again.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2003)

Main article: The Disciples of the New Church

After several years out of the spotlight, Lee debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2002, teaming with Slash as the Disciples of The New Church under the leadership of manager Father James Mitchell. On November 13, Lee and Slash won the NWA World Tag Team Championship when they defeated America's Most Wanted ("Cowboy" James Storm and "Wildcat" Chris Harris), thereby ending their undefeated streak. They later lost the titles back to AMW on January 8, 2003.

Independent circuit (2003)

Lee left the company soon after the title loss and only appeared from time to time on smaller independent events. He was a regular for NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

Filmography

Lee appeared in the Bollywood film Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi under "The Undertaker" name in 1996.

References

  1. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw90.htm
  2. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw91.htm
  3. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/91.htm
  4. ^ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/91.htm
  5. ^ http://prowrestlinghistory.com/
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