 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 26, 1967 Hammonton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | September 25, 2003(2003-09-25) (aged 36) Westerly, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Fentanyl overdose |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Pitbull #2 Pitbull Rex Mad Bull Buster Skullduggery[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg; 18 st) |
| Trained by | Larry Sharpe |
| Debut | 1988 |
| Retired | 2002 |
Anthony Durante (July 26, 1967 – September 25, 2003) was an Americanprofessional wrestler best known under thering name "Pitbull #2" as one half of thetag teamThe Pitbulls, with"Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe. The team is best known for their time inExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where the team was the promotion'sWorld Tag Team Championshiponce. Apart from tag team competition, Durante also achieved success briefly as a singles competitor, challenging for theECW World Heavyweight Championship on a few occasions while holding theECW World Television Championshiponce.
Durante grew up inHammonton, New Jersey.
Durante got his start in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), competing as anenhancement talent under his real name. In his first WWF match, Durante formed atag team withGary Wolfe on the March 4, 1989, episode ofSuperstars, losing toThe Hart Foundation (Bret Hart andJim Neidhart). Durante would face several WWF stars such asRick Rude,The Honky Tonk Man andThe Barbarian.[2] Wolfe and Durante formed a tag team, initially called American Bulldogs and would later be renamedThe Pitbulls and Mad Bull Busters. The team competed in many promotions includingNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW),South Atlantic Pro Wrestling and Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (TWA). Durante would compete under thering namePitbull Rex.
The Pitbulls debuted inEastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) at alive event on April 25, 1992, where Pitbull Rex participated in abattle royal with the winner earning anECW Heavyweight Championship match. Later that night, Pitbulls defeated Jeff Royal andJohnny Hotbody in themain event of the show. The Pitbulls then engaged in a briefrivalry withThe Super Destroyers before departing the company.[3]
Pitbulls would separate as Durante joined the Austrian promotionCatch Wrestling Association (CWA), where he debuted at the1992 Euro Catch Festival in Graz under the ring nameMad Bull Buster. In his debut match, Durante teamed withLarry Cameron to defeat the team ofMile Zrno andSteve Regal in atwo out of three falls match to win the promotion'sWorld Tag Team Championship.[4] They successfully defended the titles against Zrno and Regal in a rematch on November 17.[5] Durante and Cameron defeated Zrno andDerrick Dukes in their second title defense at December'sEuro Catch Festival in Bremen.[6] They retained the title againstDavid Taylor and Mile Zrno in their third title defense atClash of the Champions on July 3, 1993,[7] before losing the titles to Taylor and Zrno in their fourth title defense on July 18, thus ending their year-long title reign at 372 days.[8]
Cameron and Buster defeated Mile Zrno and David Taylor on October 24 to win their second CWA World Tag Team Championship.[9] They successfully defended the titles against Robert Fasser andUlf Herman on November 19.[10] The title reign of Cameron and Buster tragically ended on December 13 when Cameron died during a match againstTony St. Clair due to aheart attack. As a result, the titles were vacated. Durante wrestled his last match in CWA on February 19, 1994, competing against Ulf Herman in astreet fight, which Durante lost via disqualification.[11]
After quitting CWA, Durante returned to ECW, where he received the biggest exposure of his career. He made his televised debut in ECW as avillain atHostile City Showdown by attackingThe Tazmaniac after Tazmaniac defeatedThe Pitbull in adog collar match.[12] As a result, Durante reformed The Pitbulls with Gary Wolfe and began using thering name "Pitbull #2". Durante made his in-ring debut on the July 5 episode ofHardcore TV, challengingMikey Whipwreck for theECW Television Championship. Durante was disqualified after his partner Pitbull #1 interfered in the match.[13] Pitbulls began arivalry with Tazmaniac as they lost to Tazmaniac andSabu atHeat Wave.[14] On the July 26 episode ofHardcore TV, Pitbulls attacked their tag team partnerJimmy Snuka after they lost a match toTommy Dreamer,Terry Funk andDory Funk, Jr. This led to Tazmaniac making the save, leading to a match between Pitbulls and the team of Snuka and Tazmaniac atHardcore Heaven, which Pitbulls lost, thus ending the feud.[15][16] Pitbulls defeatedThe Bad Breed (Axl Rotten andIan Rotten) in a match atNovember to Remember and lost ahandicap match to911 atHoliday Hell.[17][18]
The Pitbulls defeatedTony Stetson andJohnny Hotbody atThree Way Dance on April 8, 1995, which stipulated that Stetson and Hotbody would be fired byRaven's Nest.[19] As a result of winning, Pitbulls joined Raven's Nest. Pitbulls began pursuing theWorld Tag Team Championship, challengingThe Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge andRocco Rock) for the titles atHostile City Showdown but failed to win the titles.[20] They received another title shot in a double dog collar match atEnter the Sandman, where they lost again.[21] Dissension began between Pitbulls and Raven's Nest whenRaven cost them matches againstTaz and2 Cold Scorpio andThe Dudleys (Snot Dudley andDudley Dudley) by abandoning them to solve the issue betweenStevie Richards,Francine andBeulah McGillicutty.[22] This led to Pitbulls refusing to follow Raven and Richards' orders ofsuperbombingLuna Vachon and attacked their leaders, thusturningfan favorites atHardcore Heaven.[23] As a result, Pitbulls aligned with Raven's Nest rivalTommy Dreamer and began feuding with Raven and Stevie Richards, defeating them in atwo out of three falls dog collar match to win the World Tag Team Championship, thanks to interference by Francine atGangstas Paradise.[24] They lost the title back to Raven and Richards on October 7 atSouth Philly Jam.[25] Francine would become the manager of Pitbulls. Pitbulls began feuding withJason's next tag teamThe Eliminators (John Kronus andPerry Saturn) after Jason confronted Francine.[26] The two teams traded wins with each other atNovember to Remember andDecember to Dismember.[27][28] At the1996 CyberSlam event, Francine and the Pitbulls defeated Stevie Richards and Eliminators in a dog collar match. After the match, Eliminators attacked Pitbulls.[29] Pitbulls challenged Eliminators for the World Tag Team Championship atBig Ass Extreme Bash on March 8, but failed to win the titles, thus ending the feud.[30]
On May 11, Durante received his first opportunity for theECW World Heavyweight Championship atA Matter of Respect, where he faced Raven andThe Sandman in athree-way dance, but failed to win the title.[31] AtFight the Power, Durante challengedShane Douglas to a match for theECW World Television Championship after Douglas provoked Durante into a match by insulting him and Francine, leading to Durante defeating Douglas for the title.[32] AtHardcore Heaven, Durante lost the title toChris Jericho after a distraction by Shane Douglas.[33] AtHeat Wave, Durante faced Jericho, Douglas and2 Cold Scorpio in a four-way dance for the title, which Douglas won after Francine turned on Pitbulls.[34] Douglas broke Wolfe's neck resulting in Wolfe being sidelined and Pitbull #2 feuded with Douglas throughout the rest of the year attempting to regain the World Television Championship and avenging his tag team partner's injury. Pitbull #2 unsuccessfully challenged Douglas for the title atThe Doctor Is In.[35] AtNatural Born Killaz, Durante and The Sandman defeated Douglas and Raven in a double dog collar match when Durante pinned Raven.[36] As a result of pinning Raven, Durante earned a title shot against Raven for the World Heavyweight Championship atWhen Worlds Collide, which he failed to win.[37] In early 1997, Pitbull #1 recovered from injury and the two resumed their tag team to feud withThe Triple Threat (Shane Douglas,Chris Candido andBrian Lee). On April 13, Durante wrestled Shane Douglas for the World Television Championship at ECW's firstpay-per-viewevent,Barely Legal, where he failed to win the title.[38] Pitbulls would lose the feud against The Triple Threat atChapter 2 and then took a hiatus in July.
Pitbulls returned to ECW atAs Good as it Gets, where they turnedvillains by aligning themselves with Lance Wright and confronting Taz, who attacked Pitbulls.[39] As a result, Pitbull #2 began feuding with Taz and faced for the World Television Championship in a losing effort atNovember to Remember.[40] Pitbulls made their last televised appearance in ECW on the December 20 episode ofHardcore TV, after which they left ECW.[41]
On March 4, 2000, they would return to ECW as they lost toAmish Roadkill andDanny Doring.
After leaving ECW, Pitbulls competed in various promotions on theindependent circuit. AtJersey All Pro Wrestling's (JAPW)Halloween Hell event on October 31, 1997, Durante participated in abattle royal for the inauguralJAPW Heavyweight Championship. He was eliminated by Joe Rules. Immediately after the match, Durante defeated Rules to win the title.[42] His reign would last until December 5, 1997, when he would be stripped due toinjury.[43] Pitbulls' next notable stint was withNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory NWA New Jersey, where they captured theNWA United States Tag Team Championship by defeatingLance Diamond andSteve Corino on August 22, 1998. During this time, they also made an appearance in World Wrestling Federation on the August 29 episode ofShotgun Saturday Night, losing toThe Headbangers.[44] They appeared at theNWA 50th Anniversary Show, where they teamed with defending championStevie Richards and Dead Man Walking against Steve Corino, Lance Diamond,Doug Gilbert and Rik Ratchett in asteel cage match for theNWA National Heavyweight Championship, in which Richards lost the title to Gilbert.[45] Pitbulls lost the United States Tag Team Championship to The Misfits (Derek Domino andHarley Lewis) on November 13. They toured many promotions includingXtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW),Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) andWorld Wrestling Council (WWC). They disbanded for a brief period of time in 2000, and reunited for only one night on May 12, 2002, atInternational Wrestling Association event in Puerto Rico defeating Bryan Madness and Maniac. This would be the last time the Pitbulls would be together. It was also the last match for Durante.
Durante died on September 25, 2003, along with his girlfriend, 29-year-old Dianna Hulsey, both from afentanyl-inducedoverdose. He and his girlfriend were found after lying in their home dead for days, with needle marks on their bodies, all while their two small children, a 21-month-old boy and 8-month-old girl, were apparently alone in the house among the bodies for 24 to 48 hours.[46][47] The 21-month-old boy left a trail of food from room to room, with a spilled quart of milk, chicken nuggets and bits of bread he had pulled from the refrigerator, and the eight-month-old girl was found in her crib. Both children were unharmed and custody was granted to their grandparents.[48]
| 2 matches | 0 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 0 |
| By submission | 0 | 2 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–2 | Todd Broadway | Submission (armbar) | IFC: Battleground 2000 | January 22, 2000 | 1 | 1:15 | Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada | |
| Loss | 0–1 | Kristof Midoux | Submission (armbar) | IFC: Montreal Cage Combat | October 9, 1999 | 1 | 0:40 | Montreal,Quebec, Canada |
Hunter: Skulduggery! Dull buggery. A masked ghoul. A Halloween thrift store affair...Pitbull Anto!
Steve (V1): Ahhhhhh.
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