James Maritato

James Maritato
This article is about the professional wrestler known as "Nunzio". For other uses, see Nunzio (disambiguation).
James Maritato
Little Guido / Nunzio in 2010
Ring name(s) Damien Stone[1]
James Maritato[1]
James Stone
Little Guido[1]
Little Guido Maritato[1]
Nunzio[1]
Guido Maritato[1]
Billed height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Billed weight 169 lb (77 kg)[2]
Born March 12, 1972 (1972-03-12) (age 39)[1]
Howard Beach, New York[1]
Billed from Rockland County, New York[2]
Little Italy, New York City
Italy
Trained by Billy Robinson[1]
Debut September 1991[1]

James Maritato[1] (born March 12, 1972)[1] is an American professional wrestler, of [Italy|italian]] origin, currently working on the independent circuit. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the ring names Little Guido Maritato and Nunzio.

Contents

Career

Starting out

While attending Nanuet Senior High School (located in Rockland County, New York), Maritato competed in football (as part of the school's 1989 team that went undefeated, untied, and unscored upon) and wrestling. He was later trained as a professional by Billy Robinson, debuting in the professional ranks in the early 1990s, with his first match against a wrestler known as Parsippany Smith Fields (real name Eric Fox), according to his shoot interview.[1][3] Maritato then went to Japan to compete in the shoot style UWF International promotion.[1]

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995–2001)

He stayed in UWF until 1995 where he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the name Damian Stone.[3] He was later given the gimmick of Little Guido and put in the comedy stable the Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I.), alongside an African American named "The Italian Stallion" J.T. Smith, Tracy Smothers, and "The Big Don" Tommy Rich. None of whom, with the exception of Maritato, were really Italian.[3]

During 1999, he became a "serious wrestler", although still accompanied by Sal E. Graziano and proclaiming himself to be an F.B.I. member (though only the two of them were left). After his turn he was involved in some intense singles matches until late 2000, when he formed a tag team with Tony Mamaluke.[3] The duo won the World Tag Team Championship on August 26, 2000 and held them until December when they lost them to Danny Doring and Roadkill.[3] They continued to wrestle together until ECW folded in January 2001.[1]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2008)

SmackDown! brand

When ECW closed, Maritato wrestled for several independent promotions, mostly in the New York Tri-State area; he often teamed with former partner Tony Mamaluke. They had a notable run in Ring of Honor before Maritato was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002.[3]

Maritato was introduced on WWE television as Nunzio, a possible reference to the mob/bodyguard characters Guido and Nunzio in the MythAdventures series of books by Robert Asprin.[3] As the on-screen heel cousin of Jamie Noble, he attacked then face Crash Holly after he defeated Noble in a match on the December 12, 2002 edition of SmackDown!.[3][4] Nunzio began a feud with Holly after this, defeating him on several occasions before going on to face the likes of Tajiri, Shannon Moore, and Chuck Palumbo.[5][6]

The team and cousin storyline of Nunzio and Noble soon faded. Nunzio reformed the Full Blooded Italians, this time with Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli and Chuck Palumbo, but the team found little success.[7] After WrestleMania XX, Palumbo was drafted to Raw, and the F.B.I. was reduced to a tag team.[8] After Stamboli was released, Nunzio began competing in the cruiserweight division.[3]

In 2005, Maritato returned to his Little Guido persona for one night; he reunited with the original Full Blooded Italians to take on Super Crazy and Tajiri in a three-way dance at the ECW reunion show One Night Stand.[9]

As Nunzio, he continued to perform on SmackDown! B-show Velocity as both a fan favorite and a villain, forming a short-lived tag team with Funaki. On the August 6 (taped on August 2) edition of Velocity, Nunzio won the Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Paul London after a new villainous wrestler, Vito, made his debut by giving Nunzio a blackjack, which he used to knock London out.[10] Nunzio joined forces with Vito, thus becoming a full time villain.

The pair began feuding with The Mexicools and at No Mercy, Mexicool member Juventud defeated Nunzio with a Juvi Driver to take the Cruiserweight Championship.[11] Nunzio regained the title on November 15 at a house show in Rome, Italy but lost it right back to Juventud on the November 25 SmackDown.[12]

Nunzio and Vito would both briefly turn into fan favorites by briefly engaging in a feud against Gregory Helms. Vito and Nunzio would quickly go back to being villains, however, due to Vito's new godfather gimmick.

In late May 2006, Nunzio's partnership with Vito began to crumble after it was revealed that, in storyline, Vito enjoyed cross-dressing, which made Nunzio feel betrayed and embarrassed.[13][14] Nunzio ended his alliance with Vito, and moved to the ECW brand.[15]

ECW brand

In June when the ECW brand was launched, Nunzio left SmackDown to join other "ECW originals" on ECW, retaking his Little Guido name in the process.[15] The F.B.I. was revived again, this time with Little Guido as a face once again, alongside Tony Mamaluke and Trinity and for a short while, Big Guido.[16] The F.B.I. were used for tag matches on ECW to either take on debuting tag teams or facing another tag team when a tag match is needed.[16] At December to Dismember, they took on Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay in a losing effort.[17] His partner Tony Mamaluke was released on January 18, leaving Guido and Trinity alone to carry on the stable.[18][19]

After Mamaluke’s release, Little Guido vanished from television (he only appeared once on ECW on Sci Fi with the Little Guido name). After his hiatus, he later returned on the April 17, 2007 episode (in Italy, where he was well received by fans) using his old Nunzio name again but without Trinity, who had been released in June.[20][21] After losses to the debuting Johnny Nitro and The Miz, Nunzio disappeared from television for a few months.[22][23] He returned on the September 11 edition of ECW, in a losing effort to Matt Striker.[24] Nunzio was used mainly as a jobber during this period, losing to Tommy Dreamer,[25] Jamie Noble,[26] Kevin Thorn,[27] and Kenny Dykstra.[28]

In 2008, Nunzio returned on January 15, in a losing effort against Shelton Benjamin,[29] and on his next appearance, on April 8, he lost to Elijah Burke.[30] He then engaged in a brief feud with Mark Henry, but came out on the losing end.[31][32] After nearly 2 years, Nunzio finally won a broadcast match on May 5, as he was in a handicap match along with the rest of the ECW roster against Triple H and Mr. Kennedy.[33]

On August 8, 2008, Nunzio was released from his WWE contract.[34]

Independent circuit

Maritato wrestled for Jersey All Pro Wrestling on September 19.[35] On November 15, he won the JAPW Tag Team Championship with Tracy Smothers. On January 16, 2009, Maritato was inducted into the ECPW Hall of Fame.

In February 2009, it was announced that Maritato would be a trainer for the "Bodyslam U" professional wrestling school in New Jersey, while still competing on the independent circuit.[36] In June Guido returned to Ring of Honor losing to Jay Briscoe at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.[37]

In late 2009 Maritato began competing for the National Wrestling Alliance under the name Nunzio. He currently performs for the NWA On Fire expansion that is based in New England.[38]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010)

On August 8, 2010, Maritato took part in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, where he, Tony Mamaluke (billed as Tony Luke) and Tracy Smothers defeated Kid Kash, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger in a six man tag team match.[39] On the following edition of TNA Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as Extreme, Version 2.0 (EV 2.0), were assaulted by A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Robert Roode, James Storm, Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan of Ric Flair's Fourtune stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA.[40][41] The following week TNA president Dixie Carter gave each member of EV 2.0 TNA contracts in order for them to settle their score with Fourtune.[42] On the August 26 edition of Impact! Guido and Luke were squashed by Roode and Storm in a tag team match.[43] The match ended F.B.I.'s association with TNA.

Return to WWE (2010–2011)

Maritato appeared at a house show for WWE Raw, at Madison Square Garden on December 26, 2010, as a referee when the majority of referees could not make it to the arena due to blizzards and gale force winds; this position expanded to televised events on February 1. On September 29, 2011, Maritato announced that he was no longer working for WWE.[44]

Other media

On March 6, 2006, Maritato was seen supporting his brother on the NBC game show Deal or No Deal in which he won $25,000.

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • "The Sicilian Shooter"
    • "The Extreme Stud"
    • "The Pugnacious Pisan"

Championships and accomplishments

  • East Coast Pro Wrestling
    • ECPW Hall of Fame (2009)
  • USA Pro Wrestling
    • USA Pro Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Rahul Kay (1) and Kid Kruel (1)
    • USA Pro United States Championship (1 time)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Nunzio Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/n/nunzio.html. Retrieved 2007-05-30. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Nunzio Bio". WWE. Archived from the original on 2006-12-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20061228203741/www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/extremists/littleguido/profile/. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Milner, John M.; Oliver, Greg; Kapur, Bob. "Nunzio". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/nunzio.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  4. ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results – December 12, 2002". Online World Of Wrestling. 2002-12-12. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/021212.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  5. ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results – January 2, 2003". Online World Of Wrestling. 2003-01-02. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/030102.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  6. ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results – January 16, 2003". Online World Of Wrestling. 2003-01-16. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/030116.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  7. ^ "Full Blooded Italians Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/f/fbi-wwe.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  8. ^ "Draft Lottery 2004". ProWrestlingHistory. 2004-03-22. http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/draft.html#2004. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  9. ^ Gramlich, Chris (2005-06-12). "One great Night of hardcore hostalgia". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/PPVReports/2005/06/13/1084767.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  10. ^ "History Of The Cruiserweight Championship – Nunzio". WWE. 2005-08-06. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/cruiser/3500761. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  11. ^ "No Mercy 2005 Results". WWE. 2005-10-09. http://www.wwe.com/shows/nomercy/history/2005/results/. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
  12. ^ "Anarchy in the U.K.". WWE. 2005-11-25. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/11252005/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
  13. ^ Dee, Louie (2006-05-12). "Tragic Homecoming". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/05122006/. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  14. ^ Williams III, Ed (2006-05-19). "Seeing red". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/05192006/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  15. ^ a b Hoffman, Brett (2006-06-13). "An Extreme Debut". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/061320061/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-06-22. 
  16. ^ a b "Full Blooded Italians – World Wrestling Entertainment – ECW Resurrection". WWE. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/f/fbi.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  17. ^ "Hybrid beatdown". WWE. 2006-12-04. http://www.wwe.com/shows/decembertodismember/matches/3293442111111/results/. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
  18. ^ Waldman, Jon (2007-01-18). "Axe drops for many WWE stars". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/01/18/3401781.html. Retrieved 2007-02-02. 
  19. ^ "World Wrestling Entertainment releases Superstars". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/archive/3877160223. Retrieved 2007-12-23. 
  20. ^ Rote, Andrew (2007-04-17). "Out of line". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/04172007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  21. ^ "Trinity released". WWE. 2007-06-22. http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/trinityreleased. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
  22. ^ "The beginning of a new ECW dawn". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/06192007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-06-19. 
  23. ^ Clayton, Corey (2007-07-10). "Nitro and Punk continue to roll toward The Bash". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/07102007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  24. ^ "No apologies". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/09112007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-09-11. 
  25. ^ "A scary affair". WWW. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/10292007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
  26. ^ "Monsters continue to roam". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/11062007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
  27. ^ "Heating up for the holidays". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/11202007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
  28. ^ "It's not easy being gold". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/12182007/mainarticle. Retrieved 2007-12-18. 
  29. ^ "The Gold Standard shines". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/01152008/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-01-15. 
  30. ^ "Contract War". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/04082008/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-04-08. 
  31. ^ "All mixed up". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/archive/04222008/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
  32. ^ "Championship Friday". WWE. 2008-06-06. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/05022008/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-05-02. 
  33. ^ "Punk'd by the General Manager". WWE. 2008-05-05. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/05052008/mainarticle. Retrieved 2008-08-09. 
  34. ^ "WWE releases six superstars, referee Nick Patrick". WWE. 2008-08-08. http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/WWErelease0808. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
  35. ^ "Nunzio Update". WrestleZone. 2008-08-18. http://www.wrestlezone.com/article/ashley-massaro-denies-strip-club-appearance-nunzio-update-22900. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
  36. ^ Wilson, Daniel (2009-02-20). "Nunzio turns his attention to training". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2009/02/20/8471686.html. Retrieved 2009-02-26. 
  37. ^ "Guido Returns". ROH Wrestling. 2009-04-30. http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=2756. 
  38. ^ "NWA on Fire". NWA on Fire. 2010-05-28. http://nwaonfire.com/super_talent.htm. 
  39. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-08-08). "Caldwell's TNA Hardcore Justice PPV results 8/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ECW-themed PPV headlined by RVD vs. Sabu". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnappvs/article_42979.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-08. 
  40. ^ Tomich, Kevin (2010-08-09). "TNA News: Spoilers – detailed Impact TV taping report for "Whole F'n Show" featuring new angle, MOTY candidate?, three title matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_43008.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
  41. ^ Bishop, Matt (2010-08-12). "TNA's 'The Whole F'n Show': Beer Money, Machine Guns put on match of year candidate; Fortune makes statement". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/08/12/15010951.html. Retrieved 2010-08-13. 
  42. ^ On the August 26th edition of TNA Impact, James Maritato wrestled in a tag team match with Tony Luke, in a loss to Robert Roode and James StormWilkenfeld, Daniel (2010-08-19). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 8/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnaimpact/article_43238.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-19. 
  43. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (2010-08-26). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 8/26: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast (updated)". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnaimpact/article_43385.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  44. ^ "WWE releases referee, now taking independent bookings". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2011-09-29. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/quicknews/article_53788.shtml. Retrieved 2011-09-29. 
  45. ^ Palladino, Rich. "Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Title History". Solie. http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/ttchao.html. Retrieved 2008-06-21. 
  46. ^ "ECW World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-t.html. Retrieved 2008-05-06. 
  47. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 2003". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50003.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-05. 
  48. ^ "WWE Cruiserweight Championship official history". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/cruiser/. Retrieved 2008-06-21. 

External links

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