| Bam Neely | |
|---|---|
 LaRouche on ECW as Bam Neely | |
| Birth name | Justin Bruce Rocheleau |
| Born | (1975-06-18)June 18, 1975 (age 49) Robbinsdale, Minnesota, U.S.[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bam Neely[2] Hellfire[3] Hellraiser Gutz[3] Justin LaRouche[3] Magnus Maximus[3] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)[4] |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Robbinsdale, Minnesota[2] |
| Trained by | Richard Martin Ohio Valley Wrestling[3] |
| Debut | 2000[3] |
| Retired | 2010 |
Justin Bruce Rocheleau[5] (born June 18, 1975) is an American formerprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his stint withWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on itsECWbrand under thering nameBam Neely.[2]
Rocheleau was trained byEddie Sharkey initially, and started his career wrestling in thetag team known as the "Hellraisers". He wrestled under the name "Hellraiser Gutz" and was mentored by his uncle Richard Martin, who wrestled as "Hellraiser Blood". They traveled across the United States, winning several tag team championships from the numerous independent promotions around the country and were the main event draw in almost every city that they appeared in for nearly a decade. However, Rocheleau struck out as a singles wrestler due to Martin suffering a career-ending illness. He began wrestling as "Magnus Maximus" in Ed Hellier's Steel Domain Wrestling in 2002.[3]
He debuted in WWE's former developmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling under the name Justin "The Ox" LaRouche, where he won theOVW Southern Tag Team Championships with Charles "The Hammer" Evans.[3][6] They would lose the titles to the Major Brothers, who became members ofLa Familia (as the Rated-R Entourage ofCurt Hawkins and Zack Ryder), thestable which he would join upon making his WWE debut.
Rocheleau made hisWWE television debut on theECWbrand on April 8, 2008 when afterKane andChavo Guerrero Jr. signed the contract for theirECW Championship rematch atBacklash, LaRouche stormed the ring, aiding Guerrero (as well as Hawkins and Ryder) in beating down Kane and putting him through a table.[7][8] On the May 5 edition ofRaw, the entire ECW roster defeatedTriple H andMr. Kennedy in a handicap match where Guerrero pinned Kennedy.
Rocheleau's character was then revealed to be "Bam Neely", a formerborder guard[2] who was hired as abodyguard by Guerrero to help him win back the ECW Championship as well as provide backup forLa Familia. He won his ECW in-ring debut by defeating then ECW Champion Kane in ahandicap match while teaming with Guerrero.[9][10] On the May 6 edition of ECW, Neely and Guerrero faced CM Punk & Kane in a losing effort. He had his firstsingles match on the June 20 edition ofSmackDown in a losing effort againstMatt Hardy.[11] On the June 23 edition of Raw during the2008 Draft, Neely and Guerrero facedHardcore Holly andCody Rhodes in a losing effort. On the August 5 edition of ECW, Neely and Guerrero were defeated byEvan Bourne andRicky Ortiz. On the August 8 edition ofSmackDown, Neely along with the rest of La Familia were all betrayed by Edge, and on the August 12 edition ofECW, Neely lost toEvan Bourne, with whom Guerrero and Neely had begun a minorfeud.[12]
On the September 5 episode of Smackdown, Neely facedR- Truth in a losing effort. On the September 23 episode of ECW, Neely facedFinlay in a losing effort. On the October 24 episode ofSmackDown during a non-title tag team match against the reigningTag Team ChampionsPrimo Colon andCarlito, Guerrero and Neely had some miscommunication which resulted in Guerrero slapping Neely and Neely throwing (and missing) a punch at Guerrero which distracted Neely long enough for Carlito to hit theBackstabber for the victory. This, in addition to earlier storyline issues fostered by inability to beatR-Truth, caused the team to disband.
The following week, on the October 28 episode ofECW, the duo would team one last time, as they andMark Henry defeated then-ECW ChampionMatt Hardy, Evan Bourne, andFinlay. Afterwards, Neely only appeared on television once more in a losing effort to Hardy on the November 4 episode ofECW. Neely returned to FCW on December 18, where he was defeated by DJ Gabriel. His final appearance was on January 8, 2009, teaming withSheamus O'Shaunessy andRyan Braddock, they were defeated byTyler Reks, Ricky Ortiz andKizarny. He was released from WWE on January 9, 2009.[13]
One year after his release from WWE, Rocheleau competed for Combat Championship Wrestling (CCW). On February 20, 2010, Rocheleau faced Eric Escobar in a match that ended in a no contest. On February 26, Escobar defeated Rocheleau by disqualification. On March 27, Rocheleau facedSteve Lewington in a losing effort. On April 9, Rocheleau andSinn were defeated by Steve Lewington & Eddie Taurus. On April 23, Rocheleau defeated Eddie Taurus. On May 1, Rocheleau defeatedAdam Pearce to win the vacant SDW Heavyweight Championship. He would go on and hold the title two more times. On June 25, Rocheleau competed for the CCW heavyweight championship in athree way match which was won by Marquis Youngston. On July 30, Rocheleau lost to Kennedy Kendrick by countout.
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