.png) Fish in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Anthony Fish[4] (1976-10-27)October 27, 1976 (age 49)[5] Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Siena College |
Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bobby Fish[1] Madden Fisher[2] Jerk Jackson[2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 197 lb (89 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Albany, New York Saratoga Springs, New York[1] |
| Trained by | Tony DeVito[3] Harley Race[2] |
| Debut | 2002[3] |
Robert Anthony Fish (born October 27, 1976) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He is signed toMajor League Wrestling (MLW). He is best known for his tenure withWWE, where he performed on theNXT brand and was a member ofThe Undisputed Era.
In WWE, he is a former two-timeNXT Tag Team Champion alongside histag team partnerKyle O'Reilly. He is also known for his time withAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2021 to 2022 andRing of Honor (ROH) from 2014 to 2017, where he wrestled as one-half of thetag teamreDRagon (also with O'Reilly) and held theROH World Tag Team Championship three times and theROH World Television Championship once. He made appearances in Japan, both forPro Wrestling Noah and forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he held theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship twice.[2]
Robert Anthony Fish was born on October 27, 1976, inAlbany, New York, and is the youngest of three children to Richard and Ann Fish. Fish's father worked as a firefighter in Albany, and was a formerU.S. Marine.[6] He grew up nearCentral Avenue. Fish attendedColonie Central High School, where he played as alinebacker for the football team. He then played football atHudson Valley Community College, before moving toSiena College during his junior year. He graduated in 2000, with a bachelor's degree in English, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college. He previously worked as a bartender and also returned to his former high school as a substitute teacher, while working independent events on the weekends. In 2012, he was about to take a job at aTarget distribution center inWilton, untilRing of Honor offered him a contract, continuing his wrestling career.[7][8]
Bobby Fish made his pro wrestling debut in 2002 after training withTony DeVito andHarley Race.[3] He competed for several years in the Northeast under the names Jerkin Jackson and Madden Fisher before settling on the name he continues to use, Bobby Fish. He made his debut forRing of Honor on October 2, 2004, where he teamed with Scott Cardinal and lost to the Rebel's Army.[9] He was utilized as a jobber for ROH for the entirety of his early appearances. Fish wrestled for Pro Wrestling Unplugged for the majority of his early career making his debut in February 2005. He formed a partnership with Scott Cardinal, whom he had wrestled many times on the Northeast indie scene. On May 20, he and Cardinal defeated three other teams to win the vacant PWU Tag Team Championship before vacating them in September. In November 2005, he became the inaugural Collision Pro Wrestling Champion.
After returning from his first tour with Noah, Fish returned to the Northeastern independent circuit and continued to compete there when he returned from Noah tours. Fish wrestled for New England Championship Wrestling regularly between his early tours of Noah. In April 2007, he defeated DC Dillinger by disqualification in a match for the NECW Undisputed Triple Crown Championship, but failed to win the title. Fish took part in Iron 8 2007, making it to the finals where he lost toEddie Edwards. Fish returned to ROH at Reborn Again in a loss toClaudio Castagnoli, teamed withMatt Cross atFinal Battle 2007 in a loss against the Vulture Squad[9] (Ruckus andJigsaw), and appeared in several matches onRing of Honor Wrestling in 2009.[10]
In 2009, he was announced as one of the participants scheduled to wrestle on the first Evolve Wrestling show.[11] On January 10, 2010, he performed in the opening match at Evolve 1, in which he lost to Kyle O'Reilly via pinfall.[12]
Fish first toured Japan in 2006 withPro Wrestling Noah, making his debut on May 19, 2006, defeatingAtsushi Aoki. For a number of years Fish toured with Noah at least once a year, sometimes enjoying several tours a year. In 2010, Fish and Eddie Edwards lost toRicky Marvin andTaiji Ishimori in the semi-final of theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship tournament. Fish participated in 2011s Global League gaining only four points. In 2012, Fish and Edwards participated in NTV G Cup Junior Heavyweight League, once again gaining four points. From April 17 to 24, 2013, Fish and Edwards took part in the2013 Global Tag League, where they won one of their four matches, failing to advance from their block.
In 2012, Fish returned toRing of Honor, where he formed a tag team withKyle O'Reilly named "reDRagon". On March 2, 2013, reDRagon defeated theBriscoe Brothers for theROH World Tag Team Championship.[13] They successfully defended the championship against Alabama Attitude (Corey Hollis and Mike Posey) that same month, and retained it atBest in the World 2013 in June in a three-way match against the C & C Wrestle Factory (Caprice Coleman andCedric Alexander) andS.C.U.M. (Cliff Compton andRhett Titus).[14][15] They lost the title toForever Hooligans (Alex Koslov andRocky Romero) on July 27.[16] They regained the title from theAmerican Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) on August 17.[17] Throughout the remainder of 2013, reDRagon successfully defended the championship against teams including the C & C Wrestle Factory, the Forever Hooligans,Jay Lethal andMichael Elgin, and Outlaw, Inc. (Homicide andEddie Kingston).[18][19][20] In 2014, they retained the championship against Adrenaline Rush (ACH and TaDarius Thomas) at the12th Anniversary Show in February, before losing the title on March 8 toThe Young Bucks.[21][22]
Fish and O'Reilly regained the tag team championship from The Young Bucks on May 17, at the ROH andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) co-promoted pay-per-viewWar of the Worlds.[23] They successfully defended the championship against The Briscoe Brothers on June 7 and againstChristopher Daniels andFrankie Kazarian at ROH's first livepay-per-viewBest in the World 2014 on June 22.[24][25] On November 23, 2014, reDRagon defeated ACH and Matt Sydal,The Addiction and The Briscoes to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship and win theTag Wars tournament.[26] They followed up their victory with successful defenses against theTime Splitters (Alex Shelley andKushida) atFinal Battle 2014, The Young Bucks at theROH 13th Anniversary Show, andThe Kingdom (Michael Bennett andMatt Taven) atSupercard of Honor IX in March 2015.[27][28][29] Fish and O'Reilly lost the tag team title to The Addiction (Daniels and Kazarian) at theRing of Honor Wrestling tapings on April 4.[30]
On May 13, during the second night ofWar of the Worlds '15, Fish unsuccessfully challengedJay Briscoe for theROH World Championship.[31] On December 18, 2015, duringFinal Battle, Fish unsuccessfully challengedRoderick Strong for theROH World Television Championship.[32][unreliable source]
On May 8, 2016, atGlobal Wars, Fish defeatedTomohiro Ishii to become the new ROH World Television Champion.[33] He lost the title toWill Ospreay on November 18.[34] Fish was scheduled to compete in a four-way match for the Television title atFinal Battle, against championMarty Scurll, Will Ospreay, andDragon Lee, but was forced to pull out due to a family emergency.[35] On January 3, 2017, it was reported that Fish had re-signed with ROH.[36] Fish was unsuccessful in an attempt to win theROH World Championship fromAdam Cole at Manhattan Mayhem VI. In March 2017, Fish announced his departure from Ring of Honor.
Through ROH's relationship with NJPW, reDRagon made an appearance for the Japanese promotion on August 10, 2014, unsuccessfully challengingTime Splitters (Alex Shelley andKushida) for theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[37] reDRagon returned to NJPW on October 25 to take part in the2014 Super Jr. Tag Tournament.[38] On November 3, reDRagon defeated The Young Bucks in the finals to win the tournament.[39] Five days later atPower Struggle, reDRagon defeated Time Splitters in a rematch to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.[40] They made their first successful title defense on January 4, 2015, atWrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, in a four-way match against Forever Hooligans, Time Splitters and The Young Bucks.[41] On February 11 atThe New Beginning in Osaka, reDRagon lost the title to The Young Bucks in a three-way match, also involving Time Splitters.[42][43]
reDRagon returned to NJPW on May 3, 2015, atWrestling Dontaku 2015, where they unsuccessfully challenged for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a three-way match withRoppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) and The Young Bucks.[44] Later that month, Fish entered the2015 Best of the Super Juniors.[45] He finished second in his block with a record of five wins and two losses, narrowly missing advancement to the finals of the tournament.[46] Following the tournament, reDRagon received a rematch for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a three-way match, also involving Roppongi Vice, but were again defeated by The Young Bucks on July 5 atDominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall.[47] On August 16, reDRagon defeated The Young Bucks to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the second time.[48] They lost the title back to The Young Bucks in a four-way match on January 4, 2016, atWrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome.[49] On September 17 atDestruction in Tokyo, Fish received his first singles title shot in NJPW, when he unsuccessfully challengedKatsuyori Shibata for theNEVER Openweight Championship.[50]
Fish made his debut inWWE'sdevelopmental territoryNXT at the June 23, 2017 television tapings, losing toAleister Black.[51]Triple H confirmed Fish's signing on July 12.[52] AtNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, Fish, alongside O'Reilly (who had also signed with WWE), attackedSAnitY after they defeated theAuthors of Pain to win theNXT Tag Team Championships.[53] Later on in the night, the two assisted the debutingAdam Cole in attacking newly crownedNXT ChampionDrew McIntyre, turning Fish heel in the process.[54] The following month, the trio of Fish, Cole and O'Reilly was officially dubbed "The Undisputed Era".[55][56] The trio faced the teams of Sanity and Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong in aWarGames match atNXT TakeOver: WarGames. During the match, The Undisputed Era emerged victorious.[57] On the December 20 episode ofNXT, Fish and O'Reilly defeated Sanity to win the NXT Tag Team Championship.[58] AtNXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Fish and O'Reilly defeated The Authors of Pain to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.[59][60] On March 4, Fish suffered a torn ACL and torn MCL in his left knee at an NXT live event. He later underwent surgery and was out of action for six months.[61] During his absence, Fish's role as champion was filled by Cole and later on byRoderick Strong, who joined the stable atNXT TakeOver: New Orleans. After returning on October 17, atNXT TakeOver: WarGames the stable were defeated by the team ofPete Dunne,Ricochet, andWar Raiders in a WarGames match.
Fish and O'Reilly regained the titles on the August 16 tapings ofNXT. AtNXT TakeOver: WarGames, The Undisputed Era were defeated by Team Ciampa in a WarGames match.[62] The next night, atSurvivor Series, Fish and O'Reilly facedThe New Day and the Viking Raiders in a triple threat tag team match but were defeated as the Viking Raiders won the match.[63] Heading into 2020, Fish and O'Reilly entered theDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and defeatedGallus in the first round, but were defeated by theGrizzled Young Veterans in the second round.[64][65] The Undisputed Era entered a brief feud withImperium and it was announced that the two factions would face each other atWorlds Collide. At the event, Imperium defeated The Undisputed Era.[66] AtNXT TakeOver: Portland, Fish and O'Reilly dropped the titles to The BroserWeights (Pete Dunne andMatt Riddle) ending their reign at 172 days.[67] Over the summer, The Undisputed Era slowly turned face as they assisted Cole in his feud withPat McAfee which culminated in a WarGames match atNXT TakeOver: WarGames, where The Undisputed Era defeated Team McAfee.[68] However, during the match, Fish suffered an injury to his triceps, taking him out of action once again.[69] During his absence, The Undisputed Era disbanded following Cole's betrayal of O'Reilly and Strong. While Fish returned on the May 11, 2021 episode of NXT,[70] Fish then made his in-ring return on the May 25 episode, where he faced Dunne in a losing effort.[71] he worked on NXT until his release on August 6.[72]
Fish was announced to appear atMajor League Wrestling,[73] where he debuted as a participant in the2021 Opera Cup tournament atFightland, defeating Lee Moriarty in the quarterfinal before losing toDavey Richards in the semifinal.[74]
Fish made his debut forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the October 6, 2021 episode ofDynamite, where he challengedSammy Guevara for theAEW TNT Championship, but was unsuccessful.[75] After the event, it was announced that he had signed a contract with the company.[76] Fish reunited with his Undisputed Era stablemateAdam Cole as part ofThe Elite and, in December, withKyle O'Reilly, who left WWE to work for AEW.[77] On the February 23, 2022 episode ofDynamite, Fish and O'Reilly won a 10-team battle royal to earn a place in the Triple Threat match for theAEW Tag Team Championship atRevolution.[78][79] At the event, Fish and O'Reilly were unsuccessful, asJurassic Express retained the championship.[80] On August 31, 2022, Fish's contract with AEW expired and his contract was not renewed, thus making him a free agent.
On September 23, 2022, at theVictory Road event, Fish made his debut inImpact Wrestling, where he was confronted byRaj Singh andShera, and Fish managed to take both men down.[81][82][83] Two weeks later, atBound for Glory, Fish made his Impact in-ring debut by competing in theCall Your Shot Gauntlet match, being eliminated bySteve Maclin.[84] On October 13 episode ofImpact!, Fish challengedJosh Alexander for theImpact World Championship, but failed to win the title.[85]
Fish did not appear again for the company before his profile was removed from Impact's official website in late 2022.
Fish would return on the episode November 20, 2022 ofNJPW Strong, defeating Kevin Blackwood. Later in the show, Fish would joinTeam Filthy by attackingHomicide.[86] Fish quietly departed Team Filthy after being defeated byDavid Finlay on theBattle in the Valley pre-show.
On February 6, 2024, it was announced that Fish would return toMajor League Wrestling on February 29 atIntimidation Games against formerMLW World Heavyweight ChampionAlex Kane.[87] Fish lost the match, after passing out to the rear-naked choke.[88]
Sporting an iconicVan Dyke beard, Fish is often seen wearing a custom mouth guard during his matches, usually with a shark-tooth design. Along with tag team partnerKyle O'Reilly, his entrance theme in both ROH and AEW is "Dance Away" by the band Damn Valentines; in NXT, he used the song "Behind Bars" by Auracle.
Fish trained with Jerrick Jones at Albany Boxing before hiskickboxing debut on January 29, 2010. He had his first fight for the Cage Wars organization at theWashington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York, and defeated Justin Pierpoint bytechnical knockout in the third round after Pierpoint suffered a broken nose at the end of the second.[89]
Fish made hisvideo game debut as aplayable character inWWE 2K19.[90] He is also a playable character inWWE 2K20.
Fish married Erin Lane on July 17, 2022.[91] He has two daughters from a previous relationship.[7]
| 1 fight | 1 win | 0 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Boateng Prempeh | KO | 2 (4),1:02 | Nov 13, 2022 | Coca-Cola Arena,Dubai, UAE |
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