- Devon Nicholson
-
Devon "Hannibal" Nicholson Ring name(s) Hannibal
Kid Nichols
Adam LustBilled height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Billed weight 284 lb (129 kg) Born October 16, 1982
Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaResides Orleans, Ontario, Canada Trained by Bruce Hart Debut July 2001 Retired October 8, 2011[1] Website GreatNorthWrestling.com Devon Nicholson (born October 16, 1982) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, who wrestled primarily in Canada as Hannibal. He was also known as Kid Nichols or Adam Lust. Some of the companies he wrestled for are WWE, TNA, Great North Wrestling, IWA and WWC Puerto Rico as well as All Star Wrestling in the UK.
He is currently training in amateur wrestling and will be competing in the 2011 Canadian Olympic Trials in Winnipeg in December. He is a former Jr. National Champion, National Team Trial Winner and 2 time provincial (state) champion in Freestyle wrestling. He is also a former Canadian Open and Ontario Championship winner in grappling.
Contents
Biography
Nicholson a lot of success in amateur wrestling before turning pro. He won a gold medal at the 2001 Junior National Championships in London, Ontario. A month later, he won a spot on the Canadian Junior National Team after winning the National Team trials in Vancouver, British Columbia. Nicholson won the OFSAA wrestling high school championships in 2000 and also in 2001 without a single point scored against him.[2] He has also held numerous City of Ottawa and Provincial titles in freestyle wrestling. He was named the Amateur Wrestler of the Year by the City of Ottawa in 2001.
Nicholson started his career wrestling for Ted Hart and Eric Bischoff's Matrat's promotion. After a stint with Jacques Rougeau, Jr.'s Lutte International 2000 promotion in Montreal, he began training with Bruce Hart in Calgary's Dungeon. He spent most of his early career in Calgary, Alberta's Stampede Wrestling wrestling as Kid Nichols, regularly training with and wrestling against Ted Hart, Harry Smith (DH Smith) and TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd).
After leaving Calgary, Nicholson wrestled in Puerto Rico for several years, where he was given the ring name Hannibal by IWA office member Bushwacker Luke Williams.[2][3] He has also wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment's Deep South Wrestling and appeared on their TV show. He has wrestled for many independent companies across Canada.
In June 2005 he wrestled John Heidenreich at Rexall Place in Edmonton in a match that aired on WWE Smackdown.
In Puerto Rico he defeated Ricky Banderas for The IWA Intercontinental title in 2005. He also feuded with Thunder and Lightning with his tag team partner Mr. Big. At the end of his IWA run Hannibal became a babyface before switching to WWC. In his first tour with WWC in December 2005 he wrestled James Storm. He participated and a WWE try out in Buffalo New York in late December 2005. He wrestled Gavin Spears in his try out match.
Hannibal returned to WWC in 2006 as a heel. He formed a tag team with Black Pain known as Terror Inc and held the WWC World Tag Team titles in 2006 and 2007. As a singles wrestler in WWC he often wrestled Eddie Colon (Primo Colon) and Orlando Colon (Tito Colon).
In May 2006 he wrestled against Eugene at the Thomas and Mac Center in Las Vegas in a match that aired on WWE Heat. Later that month he had a match at New Japans Dojo in LA.
After helping Bruce and Ross Hart promote some rural Stampede Wrestling events in Alberta in 2006 Nicholson began promoting for himself in 2007. The Bad News Allen Tribute Show in May 2007 was his first event and it drew 1200 fans. Hannibal defeated Abdullah The Butcher in the main event of that show. He also promoted the Ottawa Super EX When Legends Collide show in August 2007 that reportedly drew almost 4000 fans. Devon continued to promote events in Alberta and Ontario after that and promoted Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's December 2007 Canadian tour.[4]
On August 24, 2007 Hannibal wrestled Kamala in Cornwall ON. On November 30 he defeated Brutus Beefcake in Edmonton and on December 29, 2007 Hannibal wrestled Abyss at a TNA event at the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau Quebec.
In 2008 he wrestled in Ontario & Alberta for Wrestling Supershow, which was the name of his wrestling company. He spent March and April 2008 wrestling for All Star Wrestling in the United Kingdom where he had a few matches with Doug Williams. He made a brief return to WWC Puerto Rico in May, where he wrestled Orlando Colon (Tito Colon) to a double DQ at a TV taping.
On June 20, 2008 Hannibal defeated Psycho Sid Vicious at the Pembroke Memorial Center in Pembroke ON.
On July 4, 2008 Hannibal defeated Tiger Raj Singh (Jindar Mahal) in Cocharane AB. On July 5 Hannibal teamed with Samoa Joe to defeat Tiger Rag Singh (Jindar Mahal) and Gamma Singh Jr in Calgary AB. On August 8 he defeated Pierre Carl Oulette in Ottawa ON.
In October 2008 Nicholson won the Joslin's Canadian Open Grappling Championship in the Heavyweight Division. He is currently training in MMA.
In May 2009 Nicholson attended a WWE try out camp in Tampa Florida. He was told by WWE agent Pat Patterson that he was the best wrestler in the camp.
On June 18, 2009 he promoted a wrestling event at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay Ontario that drew over 1500 fans.
In 2009, Nicholson was offered a World Wrestling Entertainment contract, but the offer was rescinded, when a medical examination revealed that he had contracted hepatitis C, which he later blamed on his matches with Abdullah the Butcher.[5][6] He also did a try out with TNA Wrestling in October 2010 in Saginaw, Michigan. Despite impressing TNA management they could not hire him because of his Hepatitis C.
In 2010 Nicholson started a new wrestling promotion called Great North Wrestling. The first event was on February 27, 2010 in Renfrew Ontario. The main event was Hannibal vs. Jeremy Prophet in a tables match.
On May 14, 2010 he broke Terry Funk's eardrum at a Great North Wrestling press conference in Thunder Bay Ontario. The incident made the front page of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal newspaper the next day as well as all the local TV newscasts that night.
On May 15, 2010 he wrestled Kevin Nash with Terry Funk as the guest referee in the main event at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay Ontario. There was over 2500 fans in attendance.
On July 31, 2010 Nicholson won the Ontario Provincial Grappling Championships in Ottawa. He won both the heavyweight and absolute divisions in no gui grappling.
Nicholson defeated Lanny Poffo in Florenceville-Bristol NB on September 11, 2010. He defeated Jeremy Prophet, Dru Onyx, Mathieu St-Jacques, Paul Rosenberg and Sylvain Grenier in October 2010 in Montreal to become the CRW Quebec Champion.
On December 11, 2010 he wrestled and defeated Tommy Dreamer by submission at the CRW Arena to retain the Quebec Championship. Hannibal was originally supposed to lose the match, but he changed it in the ring and put Tommy Dreamer in an MMA hold for real to make him submit.[5] Due to this, CRW President, Pat Boucher stripped Nicholson of the Quebec Championship. The situation was later revealed to be an elaborate angle put together by Nicholson and Dreamer, who tried to get Devon hired many times while he was working as WWE talent relations.
In March 2011 a YouTube documentary called "Don't Bleed on Me" was released. The documentary centers around Nicholson's claim that he contracted Hepatitis C from Abdullah the Butcher cutting him with a razor blade that Abdullah had used on himself earlier in the match. Nicholson claims are supported in this video by many WWE legends including "Superstar" Billy Graham and The Honky Tonk Man. Hepatitis C is a blood to blood disease spread mainly from the sharing of needles and razor blades. In July 2011, Nicholson filed a $6,5 million lawsuit against Larry "Abdullah the Butcher" Shreve over the Hepatitis C incident, claiming it had caused WWE and TNA to lose interest in him.[7][8]
On August 26, 2011, Nicholson filed another $6 million lawsuit against the WWE for rescinding his contract offer, claiming they were discriminating against his human rights because of his Hepatitis C, even though the promotion currently has a "No Blood" policy.[9]
On September 30, 2011, Nicholson announced his retirement from professional wrestling, with his final match scheduled for October 8.[9] On October 8, 2011, Nicholson defeated Darko in his retirement match in Renfrew, Ontario.[1]
Global TV, Canada's 3rd National network did a mini documentary on Nicholson that will air November 26th at 7 pm across Canada on their news magazine show 16:9.
In wrestling
Championships and accomplishments
Amateur
- Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association
- National Hwt. Champion 2001 (1 time)
- Joslin's Canadian Open
- Canadian Hwt. Grappling Champion 2008 (2 time)
- Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association
- Provincial Hwt. Champion 2000, 2001 (2 time)
- Ontario Grappling Association
- Ontario Grappling Hwt. and Absolute Champion 2010 (1 time)
Professional
- World Wrestling Council
- WWC World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Black Pain
- Canadian Revolution Wrestling
- Quebec Champion (1 time)
References
- ^ a b Meltzer, Dave (2011-10-09). "Sun. update: 2 more major shows in next 24 hours; Michaels vs. Hart DVD review, Raw Monday, Sonnen". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/22497-sun-update-2-more-major-shows-in-next-24-hours-michaels-vs-hart-dvd-review-raw-monday-sonnen. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
- ^ a b Baines, Tim (2007-08-23). "Orleans' Nicholson: 'I've got wrestling in my blood'". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/08/23/4440605-sun.html. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
- ^ McIntyre, Doug (2005-06-09). "Kid Nichols headed to Puerto Rico". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/06/09/1078871.html. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
- ^ Baines, Tim (2007-12-29). "Ottawa wrestler gets shot with TNA". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/12/29/4744743.html. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ a b Meltzer, Dave (2011-03-31). "Thurs. update: TUF rating; UFC changes; Rock media; WWE Hall of Fame; King on Cole; Edge; Cornette". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. http://www.f4wonline.com/content/view/20061/. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
- ^ Baines, Tim (2011-04-16). "How Hep C derailed Devon Nicholson's WWE deal". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/04/16/18016631.html. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (2011-07-28). "Thurs. update: White talks overtraining, Wrestler sues wreslter, Wrestler engaged to wrestler". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/21523-thurs-update-white-talks-overtraining-wrestler-sues-wreslter-wrestler-engaged-to-wrestler. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ Murray, James (2011-07-27). "$6.5M Dollar Lawsuit filed by Ottawa wrestler "Devon (Hannibal) Nicholson" against "WWE Legend" and "WWE Hall of Famer" Abdullah the Butcher". Net News Ledger. http://netnewsledger.com/2011/07/27/multimillion-dollar-lawsuit-filed-by-ottawa-wrestler-against-%E2%80%9Cwwe-legend%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cwwe-hall-of-famer%E2%80%9D-abdullah-the-butcher/. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ a b Oliver, Greg (2011-10-03). "Devon Nicholson files suit against WWE". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/10/03/18775131.html?cid=rsssportswrestling. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
External links
- Blood, Sweat, Fears (Maclean's Magazine)
- CageMatch profile (German)
- Wrestling With Blood Sharks (Orleans Star)
- Orleans Grappler takes provincial title (Orleans Star)
- Great North Wrestling Website
- Don't Bleed On Me movie website
- Wrestling Supershow Website
- I've got Wrestling in my Blood (Ottawa Sun)
- Orleans Wrestler Set To Piledrive Ottawa (Orleans Star)
- The Timid Need Not Apply (Orleans Weekly Journal)
- Low Turnout Mars Alberta Supershows (Slam Sports)
- Wrestling Has a Rich History Here (Pembroke Observer)
- Nicholson Bringing Wrestling Back to Cochrane (Cochrane Times)
- Cochrane's 'Kid' coming home for more Karnage (Cochrane Times)
- Alberta Supercards Leave Fans Happy (Slam Sports)
- A Hard Hitting Career (Ottawa Life Magazine)
Categories:- Living people
- Canadian professional wrestlers
- 1982 births
- Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association
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