Smartmark Presents: Today's Wrestling Legend

[Smartmark]

Ok, so this is something I've working on for a long time. I will be presenting a wrestling Legend each day

[Smartmark]

" No Gimmick's Needed " Chris Candido



Christopher Raul Candito (March 21, 1972–April 28, 2005)
Throughout most of his career, he was accompanied by his high school sweetheart Tammy Lynn Sytch.

Candido held major titles in Extreme Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. His highest-profile role was in the World Wrestling Federation as Skip, part of the tag team known as The Bodydonnas with Zip, and his girlfriend and valet Sunny.

Candito was the grandson of "Popeye" Chuck Richards, a wrestler for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, a precursor to the WWF. He started training at age 14 with Larry Sharpe and wrestled for Sharpe's World Wrestling Association. He began using the alternate spelling of "Candido" for his ring name.

In the early 1990s, Candido was a part of Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling). While in ECW, he was part of a stable called "The Suicide Blonds" with Johnny Hotbody and Chris Michaels. The trio had two stints as the Tag Team Champions; the first from April 2, 1993 to May 15 after winning them from Tony Stetson and Larry Winters. They lost the titles to the Super Destroyers, only to regain them the same day. They later vacated the titles when Candido left the promotion.

Candido became famous in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), alongside his manager and girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch.

On November 19, 1994, Candido won a 10-man tournament, defeating Al Snow, Dirty White Boy, and Tracy Smothers to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which had been won and immediately vacated by Shane Douglas and ECW that August.

Candido's reign came at a time when national exposure for the National Wrestling Alliance was at an all-time low, as there was no national television outlet for the organization. His title defense matches were mostly held in small independent federations and SMW. Candido dropped the belt to Dan Severn on February 24, 1995, whose subsequent reign lasted over four years.

Candido and Sytch moved on to the WWF where Sytch was dubbed "Sunny" and Candido "Skip", the fitness fanatics The Bodydonnas. On March 31, 1996, Candido won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Zip from The Godwinns during the finals of a tournament for the vacated titles. They lost the titles on May 19, 1996, however, at a house show. According to Tammy Sytch in interviews post Candido's death, Candito and Sytch had a brief separation behind the scenes while working for the WWF.

After leaving the WWF, Candido joined ECW again, becoming part of the revived Triple Threat stable alongside Shane Douglas. While in the Triple Threat with the nickname "No Gimmicks Needed", he developed a rivalry with fellow member Lance Storm, who was soon replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow. However, Candido teamed with Storm to win the ECW Tag Team Championship. They won the tag titles on December 5, 1997 from Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. Despite being a reluctant team who hated each other, Candido and Storm had a lengthy championship run. The duo held the titles for approximately six months until they lost them on June 26, 1998 to Sabu and Rob Van Dam.

He also had a brief run in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which started when he was cleared to compete on March 16, 2000. During his stint there, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He won the title on April 16, 2000 in a six-way match at Spring Stampede against The Artist, Juventud Guerrera, Shannon Moore, Lash LeRoux, and Crowbar. He lost the title on May 15 of that same year. Later, the Triple Threat reformed in WCW, with Candido, Douglas, and Bam Bam Bigelow. However, the reformation was short lived, after Tammy was released from WCW due to backstage problems with Kimberly Page.

Candido had two runs with Xtreme Pro Wrestling. The first was in 2000, and he won the XPW World Heavyweight Championship before leaving for WCW. The second run was from late 2002 until the company's final show in 2003.

Candido debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in January 2005, and wrestled with them throughout 2005, until he died from a post-surgery blood clot. Because his last performance was taped to air later in the week, he was featured on an episode of TNA Impact! after his death.

In addition to wrestling, Candido also trained new wrestlers, including his brother Johnny Candido.


Championships and accomplishments


Extreme Championship Wrestling
ECW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Johnny Hotbody and Chris Michaels (2), and Lance Storm (1)
Hardcore Hall of Fame (2009)

Legacy Wrestling Enterprises
LWE World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Mid-American Wrestling
MAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

National Wrestling Alliance
NWA New Jersey Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

NWA Midwest
NWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Smoky Mountain Wrestling
SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship (2 times)
SMW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
SMW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Brian Lee
SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

United States Extreme Wrestling
USEW United States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

USA Pro Wrestling
USA Pro United States Championship (1 time)

World Championship Wrestling
WCW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Council
WWC World Television Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Zip

Xtreme Pro Wrestling
XPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2005)
PWI ranked him # 45 out of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1998.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Most Underrated Wrestler (1995)

[Swinny]

Nice idea, and great start with Chris Candido. A great worker who never quite got the credit he deserved.

[Kenpachi Zaraki]

really? Of all the legends you found Candido?

[Travicity]

Yea have to agree would expect somebody different for Legends Misawa could off been a good first.

[Smartmark]

" Man On The Moon " Andy Kaufman




Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman (January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984)

Kaufman grew up admiring professional wrestlers and the world in which they perform. Inspired by the theatricality of kayfabe, the staged nature of the sport, and his own tendency to form elaborate hoaxes, Kaufman began wrestling women during his act and was the self-proclaimed "Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World", taking on an aggressive and ridiculous personality based upon the characters invented by professional wrestlers. He offered a $1,000 prize to any woman who could pin him.

Kaufman initially approached then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) owner Vince McMahon, Sr. about bringing his act to the New York territory. McMahon found Kaufman's act too gimmicky and suggested to Kaufman that he try his luck in the Southern wrestling territories, where his gimmick might have more appeal.

Later, after a challenge from professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler, Kaufman would step into the ring (in the Memphis wrestling circuit) with a man — Lawler himself. Their ongoing feud, often featuring Jimmy Hart and other heels in Kaufman's corner, included a broken neck for Kaufman as a result of Lawler's piledriver and a famous on-air fight on a 1982 episode of Late Night with David Letterman. For some time after that, Kaufman appeared everywhere wearing a neck brace, insisting that his injuries were worse than they were. Kaufman would continue to defend the Inter-Gender Championship in the Mid-South Coliseum and offered an extra prize, other than the $1,000: that if he were pinned, the woman who pinned him would get to marry him and that Kaufman would also shave his head.

Kaufman and Lawler's famous feud and wrestling matches were later revealed to have been staged, or a "work", as the two were actually friends. The truth about its being a "work" was not disclosed until more than 10 years after Kaufman's death, when the Emmy-nominated documentary, A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman, aired on NBC in 1995. Coincidentally, Jim Carrey is the one who reveals the secret, and would later go on to play Kaufman in the 1999 film Man on the Moon. In a 1997 interview with the Memphis Flyer, Lawler claimed he had improvised during their first match and the Letterman incident. Although officials at St. Francis Hospital stated that Kaufman's neck injuries were real, in his 2002 biography It's Good to Be the King...Sometimes, Lawler detailed how they came up with the angle and kept it quiet. Even though Kaufman's injury was legitimate, the pair pretended that the injury was more severe than it was. He also said that Kaufman's explosion on Letterman was Kaufman's own idea, including when Lawler slapped Kaufman out of his chair.

Kaufman also appeared in the 1983 film My Breakfast with Blassie with professional wrestling personality "Classy" Freddie Blassie, a parody of the art film My Dinner With Andre. The film was directed by Johnny Legend, who employed his sister Lynne Margulies as one of the girls who appears in the film. Margulies met Kaufman for the first time on camera, and they later became a couple, living together until Kaufman's death.

[Swinny]

Lol. Everyone complains about Chris Candido, so who better to make things right with a second legend... then Andy Kaufmann?

[Smartmark]

^^ If I'm gonna post a new Legend each day, I can't take the biggest ones right away can I? :wink:

[Swinny]

I suppose, but... does Andy Kaufman really qualify as a wrestling legend? lol.

[Smartmark]

^^ I concider him one. And if you look at WWE's Hall Of Fame....... I don't think I have to explain myself further