Ulf Herman

Infobox Wrestler
name=Ulf Nadrowski


names=Ulf Ranger
Ulf Herman
Herman The German

height=6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
weight=281 lb (127 kg)
birth_date =Birth date and age|1966|4|4|mf=y
death_date =
birth_place =Hannover, Germany
resides=
billed=
death_place=
trainer=CWA Wrestling School
debut=1989
retired=|

Ulf Nadrowski is a German professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Ulf Herman. His best known appearances in America was during his short time with Extreme Championship Wrestling where he would join with the Full Blooded Italians. Ulf Herman is better known around the world for his time in the European independent circuit, most notably in the United Kingdom for Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and more recently 1 Pro Wrestling and Real Quality Wrestling.

Career

Ulf Herman was a local swimming champion in Germany and also did some Judo before he decided to get into wrestling.

Ulf travelled to Dortmund, Linz, Graz and Vienna, in order to train there. In Vienna he got an offer to perform for a small promotion and he accepted this offer. On August 27, 1989 Ulf stepped in the ring as a professional for the first time under the ringname Ulf Ranger. The match lasted two and a half rounds and Ulf finished as the winner.

On January 31, 1990 he was on the way to South Africa, where he wrestled for a promoter there for eight weeks.

Back in Germany, he began again in the small leagues, working his way up. Because of this, Ulf was seen as the most popular German wrestler, even earning a tryout in the World Wrestling Federation as "Herman the German". Unfortunately it didn't lead to anything. Ulf then travelled to the United Kingdom, where he gained crucial experience so he could wrestle for the CWA in Vienna.

In the last tournament of the year in 1993 in Bremen he was selected as 'Rookie Of The Year' and earned a match against Papa Shango (The well-known Godfather from the WWF), which took place at the Euro Catch Festival. Ulf lost, but this experience was worth more than a victory.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In 1998, Ulf travelled to the United States where he competed for Extreme Championship Wrestling. On July 18, 1998 he made his ECW debut teaming with Mike Lozansky and Michael Kovac; they subsequently lost to the team of Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney and John Kronus. On July 24, 1998 Ulf Herman was defeated by John Kronus. Ulf was defeated for the second time by John Kronus almost two weeks later on August 7, 1998. Finally on August 8, 1998 Ulf Herman picked up his first victory in ECW by defeating the man who defeated him two matches in a row, John Kronus. 20 days later on August 28, 1998 Tommy Dreamer, Blue Meanie and Super Nova beat Jack Victory, Danny Doring and Ulf Herman, leaving his current ECW record at 1 win and 4 losses.

Ulf would be kept off ECW shows now until the beginning of the next year and on January 16, 1999 at ECW's "House Party". where he was defeated once again by rival John Kronus.

Ulf Herman briefly joined ECW stable called the Full Blooded Italians. The stable gained a cult following in ECW. While Ulf slowly faded away from ECW in the coming months, he still earned various title shots against Rob Van Dam and Sabu, but the matches did not garner any real interest. Nevertheless Ulf would participate in the ECW Pay by View "November to Remember '98". To this day he states that his favourite match was against RVD in Detroit, Michigan. Ulf's last match in ECW was against his friend Sabu on January 30 1999

After his stint in ECW, Ulf returned to Europe where he captured the NWA Germany Heavyweight championship. Herman continued on the European independent circuit making a name for himself in the United Kingdom once more, competing in Frontier Wrestling Alliance and later 1 Pro Wrestling.

1 Pro Wrestling

On January 6, 2006, Ulf Herman made his debut in 1PW, replacing D'Lo Brown who had withdrawn from the event. Herman lost his first match to his fellow future cult favorite, Sterling James Keenan, spitting a fire ball that nearly missed Keenan's head, but appeared at the end of the show to help Sabu stave off an attack from Keenan and Abyss. The next night, Herman and Sabu teamed to lose to Keenan and Abyss, with Ulf being pinned.

Despite this setback, Herman was signed up for 1PW's next double-header show 'All or Nothing', winning a dark match on Night One. Prior to the 1PW Heavyweight Title Tournament Final, Herman came out and cut a promo stating that, since he believed AJ Styles would defeat Abyss in the match, he was challenging 'The Monster' to a 'Survival of the Sickest' match for Night Two. Following the revelation that Christian Cage, the nominated No.1 contender for the title come AON Night 2, was no longer in the country, Herman stepped in as his match with Abyss was made a 1PW Heavyweight Championship match. After a long match fought all around the arena, Ulf was defeated after being chokeslammed through a flaming table covered in thumbtacks.

Despite having a 1-3 win-loss record and no wins on any major shows, the bump Herman took made him an instant cult favourite with the 1PW fans and he was granted a Falls Count Anywhere rematch at 'Know Your Enemy' Night One. Abyss once again defeated Herman, causing Ulf to publicly question his career on Night Two. As he seemed poised to announce his retirement, Iceman interrupted him and attacked, intending to see Ulf off into retirement for good. This did not happen, but Herman was defeated by Iceman in a No-DQ match at 'The Devil's Due'.

Ulf was unavailable for 'Invincible' due to a personal commitment, but he returned to face both Iceman and Martin Stone in a European Deathmatch. Stone pinned Iceman to win the match and shook hands with Herman after the match, only for Iceman to flip both men off and escape the ring. Herman returned to the Doncaster Dome once more at 'Fight Club IV: Fight for the Future' to team with Steve Corino and new fans' favourite SJK against the team of Darkside and Team Supreme, Keenan's former followers. The team won the six-man match after Corino hit Darkside with a stiff kick. In the following twenty man 'Fight for the Future' battle royale, Herman garnered the most eliminations but was tossed out by Jodie Fleisch, who came from another arena entrance to blindside Ulf.

After 1PW put out a notice of liquidation, northern wrestling promotion 3 Count Wrestling took over 1PW's January 13 booking at the Doncaster Dome to put on the '...Will Not Die' show, as a tribute to the fallen promotion, announcing that Iceman and Ulf Herman would face off once more in a Survival of the Sickest main event. Following events which led to Abyss being stripped of his second 1PW World Championship, Herman and Iceman battled it out to determine the 'final' 1PW World Heavyweight Champion. After a heated hardcore match, Herman hit a brainbuster/suplex through a flaming table on Iceman to gain the pinfall and become the 1PW World Heavyweight Champion.

Ulf managed to retain the belt at 1PW's comeback show 'Resurrection' where he beat Iceman in an I quit Match. He also managed to retain over two nights at the Know Your Enemy weekend, on night 1 in a four-way against Abyss, Sterling James Keenan and Doug Williams and on night 2 against Sterling James Keenan

Ulf managed to again defend his title at the 1PW show 'Invincible' against Sterling James Keenan after the proposed three-way was cancelled due to Abyss not making the show. It was later announced that he would defend his title for the last time against Sterling James Keenan in a steel cage match at the 2nd Anniversary Show on October 13.

Ulf lost the title to Keenan in the cage at 2nd Anniversary Show. Afterwards, Keenan accepted Herman's gesture in handing him the belt, but declared that he would now pillage 1PW for all he could and that he didn't care about the fans or his fellow wrestlers.

Real Quality Wrestling

On February 9, 2008 in Weinheim, Germany at ACW's Riptide II Event, Ulf became the RQW Heavyweight champion in a title vs title match, putting his ACW Title belt on the line against with the then current RQW champion Martin Stone. He won after a referee mix up spot and rolled his opponent up for the 3 count.

Ulf will made his first RQW title defence on the 9th March RQW TV taping show, where he defeated Johnny Moss.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**"Tower of Power" (Elevated powerbomb)
**Chokeslam
**Diving leg drop
**Clothesline
**Big boot

*Nicknames
**"The seven foot German" Ulf Herman
**"The Flaming German"
**"Herman the German"

*Entrance themes
**"Big, Bad, Dangerous to Know" by Metal Men

Championships and accomplishments

*1 Pro Wrestling
**1PW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.1pwonline.co.uk/results.php?year=2007 | title=1-Pro Wrestling 2007 Results | accessdate=2008-07-08|publisher=1pwonline.co.uk]
*Athletik Club Wrestling
**ACW World Wrestling Championship (1 time, current) [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Athletik_Club_Wrestling.htm | title=Athletik Club Wrestling Title Histories| accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com]
*Catch Wrestling Association
**CWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times) [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Catch_Wrestling_Association.htm | title=catch Wrestling Association Title Histories | accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com] - with August Smisl (2), Tony St. Clair (1) and Christian Eckstein (1)
*European Wrestling Fighters
**EWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*European Wrestling Promotion
**EWP Iron Man Championship (1 time)
**EWP Iron Man Hardcore Knockout Tournament winner (2004)
*Freestyle Championship Wrestling
**FCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Freestyle_Championship_Wrestling.htm | title=Freestyle Championship Wrestling Title Histories| accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com]
*Frontier Wrestling Alliance
**FWA British Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Drew McDonald (1) [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2002-02.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - February 2002 | accessdate=2008-07-05|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com] and Alex Shane (2) [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2002-10.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - October 2002 | accessdate=2008-07-06|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com]
*German Wrestling Federation
**GWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/German_Wrestling_Federation.htm | title=German Wrestling Federation Title Histories| accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com]
*Independent Wrestling World
**IWW Heavyweight Cup Championship (1 time)
*Professional Wrestling Alliance
**PWA Europameisterschaft Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2003-04.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - April 2003 | accessdate=2008-07-05|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com] [cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Professional_Wrestling_Alliance.htm | title=Professional Wrestling Alliance | accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com]
*Real Quality Wrestling
**RQW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)cite web|url=http://www.titlehistories.com/Real_Quality_Wrestling.htm | title=Real Quality Wrestling Title Histories | accessdate=2008-07-11|publisher=titlehistories.com]

Personal life

Nadrowski is married and has a child. In past times he worked as a lifeguard. Aside from his wrestling career, Ulf works as a bodyguard on tour with bands such as 3 Doors Down, System of a Down, Slipknot and Rammstein. Nadrowski also owns a fitness club.

References