Steve Blackman

Infobox Wrestler
name= Steve Blackman

names=_Steve_Blackman
height= 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
weight= 246 lbs (112 kg)
birth_date = birth date and age|1963|9|28
death_date =
birth_place = Annville, Pennsylvania, USA
resides= Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
billed= Annville, Pennsylvania
trainer= Tony Altomare, Stu Hart
debut= 1986
retired= 2002|

Steve Blackman (born September 28, 1963 in Annville, Pennsylvania) is a retired American professional wrestler who best known for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under his own name.

Professional wrestling career

tampede Wrestling

Steve Blackman began his wrestling career in 1986 in Connecticut, training at Tony Altomare's wrestling school. In Calgary, he worked for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. Later that year, he contracted malaria while wrestling in South Africa and "was on his death bed for two years" [ [http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2004/articles/1075647555.php Steve Blackman speaks on his neck, the future, WWE release, more] ] .

After his bout with malaria, Blackman first appeared on WWF television in 1988 [ [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x409ft_islanders-high-chief-afi-vs-outback_sport Steve Blackman, Brady Boone, & Outhouse Jack vs The Islanders] ] , as a jobber. Blackman made unsuccessful full-time comebacks in 1991, 1992, and 1993, but the fatigue was too strong. Around this time, Blackman had a contract with the WWF but became ill and had to wait to make his debut when he finally recovered.

World Wrestling Federation

Debut and early years (1997-1998)

Steve Blackman made his WWF debut on the November 3, 1997 episode of "Raw is War" when he jumped the guardrail, to help Vader fend off an attack from the Hart Foundation. Originally, Blackman's gimmick was to be a 'sleazy, dirtbag hustler' who would be linked with Sunny, who would have turned heel for the angle. Vince McMahon opted for the martial arts gimmick. Blackman was a replacement for the injured Patriot on Team USA (Vader, Goldust, & Marc Mero), at Survivor Series 1997, against Team Canada (British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Phillip Lafon, & Doug Furnas).

The following year, Blackman joined Ken Shamrock in his efforts to combat the Nation of Domination. Eventually Blackman broke out on his own, establishing his trademark entrance involving swinging glow-in-the-dark eskrima sticks before walking to the ring. He eventually turned heel after siding with then-heel Shane McMahon. During his run as a heel, he brought a gym bag full of martial arts weapons with him to the ring, including kendo "shinai". Blackman would attempt to use the weapons in the bag during or after the match.

In late-1998, Blackman competed in the WWF Brawl For All tournament, defeating Marc Mero in the first round. However, he had to withdraw due to injury, allowing Mero to advance by default.

Head Cheese (1999-2000)

Blackman and Al Snow formed a tag team that was known unofficially as Head Cheese, as Snow made Blackman wear a cheesehead hat to complement the mannequin head that Snow carried to the ring. Blackman had a reputation for being very serious and not displaying emotion, so the two put on comedy duo skits with Blackman as the straight-faced man. Many of the skits involved Snow's attempts to come up with a gimmick for their team. In one backstage scene, Snow proposed that the duo develop a TV show wherein they travel through time and solve mysteries. Another memorable sketch involved Snow scheduling an unsuspecting Blackman to perform stand-up comedy at a retirement home, with humorous results.

Hardcore division (2000-2002)

After the Head Cheese team went their separate ways, Blackman entered the WWF's Hardcore Division. At the time, the title was defended 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (established by Crash Holly). Because of this, WWF often ran matches wherein the champion was attacked and defeated in locations not typically associated with wrestling matches, such as backstage or in a hotel. However, with Blackman as champion, surprise attacks no longer resulted in title changes: within the matches, Blackman was so dangerous in hand-to-hand combat that surprise attacks were not effective enough to defeat him. During his stint as Hardcore Champion, Blackman's full martial arts talent was utilized. The first time he lost the title for a significant amount of time was against Shane McMahon, largely due to interference from Test, Albert, Edge, and Christian, with Mick Foley suspending the 24/7 rule to make sure McMahon didn't try to get out of facing Blackman in a rematch. At Summerslam 2000, Blackman fought McMahon for the title. During that match, Blackman made a 30-40 foot leap off of the Titantron onto a prone McMahon below [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOGvxdfnNOQ Summerslam 2000 - Shane McMahon Vs. Steve Blackman (Hardcore Match highlights)] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8KYm1xcj1M WWF Shane O'Mac vs Steve Blackman (Hardcore Match) 2000] ] . Blackman would go on to defend the title on several occasions, but he would ultimately lose the title on a more permanent basis to Raven in late 2000.

Early in 2001, Blackman formed another tag team, this time with Grandmaster Sexay. Blackman again played the straight-faced man: a recurring element was that Grandmaster would always try to convince Blackman to dance with him after their matches. In the summer of 2001, Lawler was released from his WWF contract. At around the same time, Blackman suffered an injury, and was released in October 2002.

Blackman made a guest appearance, and his first in over six and a half years, on WWE television during the Raw 15th Anniversary Special. Appearing in a 15-man battle royal. He was eliminated by Flash Funk.

Post-WWE

Blackman opened a self-defense school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania called "Blackman's Self Defense and Street-Fighting School" in mid-2003. Blackman & MMA fighter (UFC Hall of Famer) and wrestler Ken Shamrock were brought in to help promote a clothing line for professional fighters, called Ground ‘n’ Pound gear (GnP) [ [http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2004/articles/1075647555.php Steve Blackman speaks on his neck, the future, WWE release, more] ] . As of July 2006, Blackman has re-opened "Steve Blackman's Fighting Systems", which features MMA classes as well as professional wrestling training with [http://ccwevents.com/ Classic Championship Wrestling] , a local independent wrestling promotion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Blackman resurfaced in July 2007 as a guest on Nancy Grace's show [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0l9yJXplqo Marc Mero and Steve Blackman Argue About Benoit (1 of 2)] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEeLejRDG0U Marc Mero and Steve Blackman Argue About Benoit (2 of 2)] ] , during the media blitz surrounding the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide, where he argued with fellow former wrestler Marc Mero. He also made an appearance on Larry King Live to discuss the same topic. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8sZB8xPxbI YouTube - Larry King talks about Chris Benoit - 1 of 5 ] ] .

Steve Blackman is considering the same procedure that Kurt Angle had and a possible return to the wrestling business [ [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/s/steve-blackman.html Online World of Wrestling ] ] .

Personal life

According to Jim Ross's December 14, 2007 blog, Steve was about to become a father for the first time. [ [http://www.jrsbarbq.com/2007/12/14/get-your-holiday-shopping-done-here-today-redneck-gift-buckets-jr%e2%80%99s-big-nuts-autographed-cookbooks-all-selling-and-being-shipped-asap-after-thoughts-on-raw%e2%80%99s-15th/ Steve Blackman, about to become a father for the first time, was in awesome physical condition and is training MMA fighters in Pennsylvania.] ]

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**"Party Time" (Multiple kendo stick shots)
**Guillotine choke
**Double underhook lock
**Dragon sleeper
**Multiple kick variations
***Bicycle/Pump
***Super
***Scissors
***Thrust
***Diving front to the opponent's chest
**Multiple chop variations
***Knife-edged
***Openhand
***Overhead
**Leg hook suplex
**Pendulum backbreaker
**Karate-style elbow strikes
**Diving side elbow drop
*Signature foreign objects
**Kendo stick
**Escrima sticks
**Nunchaku

*Catchphrases
**"It's party time! (Said just before he gets out the Kendo Sticks)Fact|date=February 2008
**"This is my house!"
**"Mmmmm! Cheese!"Fact|date=February 2008

*Nicknames
**"The Lethal Weapon"
**"The Silent Assassin"

Championships and accomplishments

*Stampede Wrestling
**Stampede Television Championship

*World Wrestling Federation
**WWF Hardcore Championship (6 times) - "Longest Combined Reign in days"

References

External links

* [http://www.harrisburg-mma.com Steve Blackman's Harrisburg Mixed Martial Arts]
* [http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/profiles/s/steve-blackman.php OwW Profile]
* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/s/steve-blackman.html Profile on OWOW]
* [http://www.tv.com/steve-blackman/person/59388/summary.html Steve Blackman] on TV.com
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0085774/ Steve Blackman] on IMDb.com