| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Family | Thunderbolt Patterson (uncle) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bobby Walker Hurricane Walker Robbie Walker |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 238 lb (108 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Trained by | WCW Power Plant[1] |
| Debut | 1989[1] |
| Retired | February 2000[1] |
Bobby Walker is an American formerprofessional wrestler who is best known for his appearances inWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1992 until 2000.
Walker made his professional debut in 1989. Wrestling as Hurricane Walker in 1990, he challenged for theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship; teaming withBrian Knobbs, he competed for the vacant title againstRobert Fuller andKendall Windham but was unable to win the title. When it was vacated again, he paired withJoe Gomez in another unsuccessful attempt to win the championship. He and Tim Parker won the championship belts in late 1990 by defeating Sgt. Rock andMark Starr but soondropped the title to Sgt. Rock andRon Slinker.[2]
Walker made brief appearances withFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in July 1991,[3] theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in November 1991,[4] and the International Championship Wrestling Alliance in 1992.[5][6] In 1991, he was rated number 354 inPro Wrestling Illustrated's annual ranking of the top 500 wrestlers in the world;[7] the following year, he was ranked at number 365.[8] He later trained at theWCW Power Plant, a training facility operated by WCW.[9]
Walker made hisWorld Championship Wrestling debut in 1992 under the name Robbie Walker. Originally he was scheduled to team withRon Simmons at theClash of the Champions XXI againstCactus Jack,Tony Atlas, andThe Barbarian in a handicap match, but was injured and was replaced by the debuting2 Cold Scorpio. After nearly a year recovering and working house shows for WCW, he returned under the name Bobby Walker and appeared in a televised match as part of atag team with Jason Johnson in a loss toHarlem Heat on the January 8, 1994, episode ofWCW Saturday Night.[10][11]
Starting in 1995, he was known as "'Hardwork' Bobby Walker", and he wasmanaged byTeddy Long.[12] Walker competed as ajobber to the stars on WCW's lower-tier programming while winning occasional bouts against enhancement talent.[13][14][15] He wrestled his only pay-per-view match atWorld War 3 in 1995 as one of sixty men in a three-ringbattle royal that was won byRandy Savage.[16][17]
Walker was chosen to team with The Barbarian atSlamboree 1996 for the Lethal Lottery, but was injured byLex Luger on aWCW Saturday Night, Walker was replaced byDiamond Dallas Page, who would eventually win the battle royal. He defeatedBilly Kidman in adark match atBash at the Beach.[18] In August, Walker teamed withMr. J.L. in a dark match atClash of the Champions XXXIII in which they were defeated byThe Nasty Boys.[19] Walker remained with the company until his release in February 2000.[20]
Walker is the nephew of former professional wrestlerThunderbolt Patterson.[citation needed]
In 2000, Walker,Sonny Onoo,Hardbody Harrison, and several other performers filed a lawsuit against WCW,[21] alleging racial discrimination. Walker stated that hisCaucasian opponents were told to make him look bad and that he was told that he would never hold a championship belt.[22][23] He also stated that he was paid less than many of the company's Caucasian wrestlers.[22] The suit also stated that African-American wrestlers were made to look "loud, obnoxious, pompous and shiftless".[21] On April 3, 2001, a judge ruled that WCW had not committed fraud or breached the contracts of the plaintiffs, and that the discrimination lawsuit could proceed.[21] Because theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment, had purchased WCW after the lawsuit was filed, Walker's lawyer stated that the plaintiffs would pursue legal action against the WWF.[21] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.[24]