- Matt Knowles
-
For other people named Matt Knowles, see Matt Knowles (disambiguation).
Matt Knowles 
Ring name(s) HC Loc[1][2]
Loc[1]
Matt Knowles[1]
The Masked Chicago Superstar[1]
The Masked Wisconsin Superstar[1]Billed height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] Billed weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)[2] Born October 8, 1974 [1][2]
Elmira, New York[1][2]Billed from Chicago, Illinois (as The Masked Chicago Superstar)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (as The Masked Wisconsin Superstar)
Fordham Road, The Bronx[3]Trained by Bob Bailey[2][4]
T.C. Reynolds[1][4]
Dory Funk, Jr.[3]Debut August 8, 1996[1] Matthew "Matt" Knowles[2][1] (born October 8, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, HC Loc. He is perhaps best known for his tenure in Ring of Honor, where he is a one time World Tag Team Champion with Tony DeVito as a part of The Carnage Crew.
Contents
Professional wrestling career
Early career
After watching a television advertisement for "Crunchers Gym", a professional wrestling school operated by Bob Bailey, Knowles decided to enroll in order to become a professional wrestler. Despite being uncertain as to whether or not he would be accepted into the school, given that he was exceptionally small for a professional wrestler in the mid-1990s, Knowles contacted Bailey and was admitted to the school. He would then train under Bailey and T.C. Reynolds for six days a week over the course of fifteen months.[3]
After taking part in several tag team matches and battle royals, he wrestled his first singles match on August 8, 1996 against Steve Corino in Bailey's own promotion.[2][3] Knowles originally wrestled under his own name, but later renamed himself to HC Loc. The "HC" stood for "Hard Core" (as in hardcore music, not hardcore wrestling).
From 1996 to 1999, Knowles wrestled on the independent circuit in the northeast, appearing on occasion as an enhancement talent with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation. Knowles also competed in the WWF's first-ever intergender match on the April 6, 1998 edition of Raw against Luna, but lost.[5]
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)
In the summer of 1999, Knowles attended a training seminar held by Dory Funk, Jr. in Ocala, Florida. Funk arranged for Knowles to have a try-out match with Extreme Championship Wrestling, which he wrestled the next week in Queens, New York. Knowles was hired by ECW on the basis of the match, and originally worked as a member of the ECW ring crew, constructing and dismantling the ring before and after shows. He also acted as a referee who wrestled on occasions.[2][1] Like many other ECW employees, Knowles received several bounced paychecks as owner Paul Heyman's debts began to spiral out of control.
Ring of Honor (2002–2005)
HC Loc in May 2009
Knowles debuted on the inaugural ROH show, Era of Honor Begins, on February 23, 2002 as a referee (a nod to his referee gimmick in ECW).[1] On April 27, Knowles formed a tag team with his long time friend DeVito known as The Carnage Crew.[2] The Carnage Crew was later expanded to include Masada and then again to include Justin Credible. Credible left ROH in 2004, while Masada turned against Knowles and DeVito on May 22, 2004. After briefly feuding with Special K, the Carnage Crew began feuding Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer. After Maff left ROH, they began feuding with Whitmer and his new partner Jimmy Jacobs. On July 9, 2005, The Carnage Crew defeated Whitmer and Jacobs for the Tag Team Championship.[6][7] Only a few weeks later at The Hoemcoming, the Carnage Crew lost the title back to Whitmer and Jacobs on July 23.[6][7] On August 20 at Night of the Grudges II, the Carnage Crew wrestled their final match in ROH and lost to The Ring Crew Express.[6] After leaving ROH, Knowles took a hiatus from wrestling.
Return to wrestling (2008–present)
On January 25, 2008, the National Wrestling Alliance territory NWA Upstate announced that after a three year long hiatus, Knowles, under his HC Loc ring name, would be returning to their promotion on February 23, 2008 to compete at their event February Fallout.[2][6] At the event, Loc teamed with Eric Everlast to defeat Super Assassin and Triple X.[6] Later on in the year, he teamed with Cody Deaner to defeat Kid Justice and Rik Matrix on the September 7 episode of Pier 6 Wrestling's Shakedown television show.[6] On April 4, 2009, Loc lost to Nunzio at an Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling event.[6]
On July 10, 2010 at Acid-Fest: A Tribute to Trent Acid, Loc and DeVito reunited and reformed the Carnage Crew and wrestled in a four-way tag team match also involving the H8 Club and Da Hit Squad, which was ultimately won by The S.A.T..[6]
Personal life
Knowles is a New York Yankees fan, and has a tattoo to that effect on his left forearm.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- REF – Really Effective Finisher (Full nelson wheelbarrow facebuster)[2][1]
- Signature moves
- Facebreaker DDT followed by a swinging neckbreaker[2]
- Northern Lights suplex, sometimes into the corner[2]
- Tornado DDT[2][1]
- With Tony DeVito
- Finishing moves
- Carnage Driver (Spike piledriver)
- Signature moves
- Carnage-Plex (Belly to back suplex by DeVito into a swinging neckbreaker by Loc)
- Sitout crucifix powerbomb / Neckbreaker combination
- Finishing moves
- Entrance themes
- "Sewn Mouth Secrets" by Soilent Green[8] (ROH; Used while a part of The Carnage Crew)
- "High Rate Extinction" by Crowbar[8] (ROH; Used while a part of The Carnage Crew)
- "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" by Prong[8] (ROH; Used while a part of The Carnage Crew)
- "King of the Streets (Carnage Rules Mix)" by Boner[8] (ROH; Used while a part of The Carnage Crew)
Wrestlers trained by Matt Knowles
- Tyger Smith [9]
- Bobby Shields[9]
- The Ring Crew Express (Dunn and Marcos)[9]
- Eric Tuttle[9]
Championships and accomplishments
- Eastern States Wrestling
- ESW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)[4]
- New Breed Wrestling
- NBW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)[4]
- New Era Pro Wrestling
- NEPW North Coast Championship (1 time)[10]
- NWA Upstate
- NWA Upstate Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[11]
- Ring of Honor
- ROH Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tony DeVito[7]
- Ultimate Wrestling
- UW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[4]
- United States Wrestling Federation
- USWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[4]
- World of Hurt Wrestling
- Other titles
- AWA Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Cagematch profile". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=371.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "OWOW profile". http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/h/h-c-loc.html.
- ^ a b c d "Official bio". http://www.thecarnagecrew.com/hcloc2.html.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Bodyslamming profile". http://bodyslamming.com/other/hcloc.html.
- ^ "Matt Knowles vs. Luna on Cagematch match listings, page 2". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=371&view=matches&gimmick=&jahr=&liga=®ion=&art=&artmatches=&suchbegriff=Suchbegriff&Start=51#matches.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Cagematch match listings, page 1". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=371&view=matches#matches.
- ^ a b c "ROH World Tag Team Championship history". Ring of Honor. http://www.rohwrestling.com/rohworldtagteamtitles.php. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
- ^ a b c d "Entrance themes". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=28&nr=219&view=themes#themes.
- ^ a b c d "Wrestlers trained". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=371&view=trained#trained.
- ^ "NEPW North Coast Championship history". http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/mmnchtnepw.html.
- ^ "NWA New York Heavyweight Championship history". http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/nhtnwaupst.html.
- ^ "Awards". http://www.cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=371&view=awards#awards.
- ^ "WOHW Heavyweight Championship history". http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/whtwohw.html.
- ^ "WOHW Tag Team Championship history". http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/ttwohw.html.
- ^ "WOHW United States Championship history". http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/ustwohw.html.
External links
ROH World Tag Team Champions The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels and Donovan Morgan) · A.J. Styles and Amazing Red · The Backseat Boyz (Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid) · Special K (Dixie and Izzy) · The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) · Second City Saints (CM Punk and Colt Cabana) · The Prophecy (B.J. Whitmer and Dan Maff) · The Rottweilers (Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero) · B.J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs · The Carnage Crew (HC Loc and Tony DeVito) · Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke · Austin Aries and Roderick Strong · The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) · Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal · Naruki Doi and Shingo · The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) · No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero) · El Generico and Kevin Steen · The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) · Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) (current)Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Elmira, New York
- American professional wrestlers
- Professional wrestling referees
- Finishing moves
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