| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | George Hines[1] (1963-06-01)June 1, 1963 (age 62)[1] Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S.[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | American Eagle The Eagle[1] George Hines[1] Jackie Fulton[1] Jackie Hines[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg; 17.3 st)[1] |
| Debut | 1987 |
| Retired | 2006 |
George Hines (born June 1, 1963) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler, best known by his ringnameJackie Fulton, who competed in regional and independent promotions including theAmerican Wrestling Association, East Coast Championship Wrestling, theNational Wrestling Alliance,World Championship Wrestling and, most notably, his brief but memorable stint inSmoky Mountain Wrestling where he teamed with his real life brotherBobby Fulton asThe Fantastics.
Throughout the 1990s, he also carved out a successful career overseas competing inAll Japan Pro Wrestling andIWA Japan both under his real name as well as the masked wrestlerThe Eagle. In recent years, he has also competed in American independent promotions as the masked wrestlerAmerican Eagle.[1]
Born inColumbus, Ohio, Hines eventually entered professional wrestling in 1987, joining his older brother Bobby Fulton a decade after his own debut in 1977. In early 1989, he began wrestling in televised matches for the Continental Wrestling Federation based in Alabama. During his time in the area, he formed a short-lived tag team withNightmare Danny Davis and gained a title shot at the then CWF Tag Team ChampionsThe Japanese Connection (Mr. Chono andRPM) in May 1989.
After Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers left the NWA and split up, he joined his brother later that year in theAmerican Wrestling Association where they briefly feuded with thenAWA Tag Team championsThe Destruction Crew (Mike Enos andWayne Bloom). He and Bobby Fulton also had a short run in theNWA and wrestled as bothThe Fantastics andThe Fantastic Ones on the independent circuit.
During this time, Hines also competed inJim Crockett Promotions and, teaming withTerry Taylor againstThe Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs andJerry Sags) atClash of the Champions XII, he was pinned by Sags.[2]
Staying with the organization during the next year or two, his exposure increased during the promotion's eventual transition toWorld Championship Wrestling although he was often used as apreliminary wrestler against veterans such asNikita Koloff to whom he lost to onWCW Worldwide inTallahassee, Florida, on August 3, 1991.[3] One of his wins, however, was against future superstarBob Holly.
In early 1992, he and Bobby Fulton began teaming together as the second incarnation ofThe Fantastics, formerly composed of Bobby Fulton andTommy Rogers. Appearing on the earliest episodes of SMW's weekly television show, he and Bobby Fulton foughtIvan andVladimir Koloff in a brief feud during early March.[4]
Entering a championship tournament to crown the first SMW Tag Team Champions, they would advance to the finals before being eliminated by theHeavenly Bodies (Stan Lane &Tom Prichard) inHarrogate, Tennessee, on April 23, 1992. On July 2, he would also win a 12-man battle royal inPaintsville, Kentucky. The participants included Bobby Fulton,Robert Gibson,Joe Cazana,"Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony,Dixie Dynamite,Jimmy Golden,Tim Horner,Buddy Landel,Brian Lee and the Heavenly Bodies. He and Bobby Fulton would also tour Japan losing toAndré the Giant,Mighty Inoue &Yoshinari Ogawa in a 6-man tag team match withThe Patriot inHamamatsu, Japan on May 30 and, withJohnny Ace, lost in a rematch three days later inFukushima, Japan.[5]
Feuding with the Heavenly Bodies and their managerJames E. Cornette throughout the summer, they briefly captured the SMW Tag Team Championship from the Heavenly Bodies defeating them inJohnson City, Tennessee, on August 8 before dropping the belts back to them inBenton, Tennessee, two days later.[6] Splitting up soon after, Hines eventually left the promotion and traveled the independent circuit for a short time before moving on to Japan later that year.
In 1992, he began competing in Japan asThe Eagle, forming a successful tag team withThe Patriot. They competed in the1992 and1993 World's Strongest Tag Determination League as well as winning theAll Asia Tag Team Championship fromTsuyoshi Kikuchi &Kenta Kobashi inKoyama, Japan on June 2, 1993. After losing the titles toDoug Furnas &Dan Kroffat on September 9, The Patriot left AJPW forWorld Championship Wrestling while Hines began teaming withThe Falcon together competing in the1994 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.
By 1999, he had become a regular in All Japan Pro Wrestling competing under his real name. Appearing on televised matches aired onNippon TV, Hines teamed with Wolf Hawkfield againstGiant Kimala &Tamon Honda at the Super Power Series supercard at the Sendai Miyagi-ken Sports Center on June 9. During the Summer Action Series, he facedAkira Taue &Toshiaki Kawada &Hiroshi Hase in a 6-man tag team match with Johnny Ace and Mike Burton atKorakuen Hall on August 22. Several days later, he and Johnny Ace teamed againstTakao Omori &Yoshihiro Takayama at the Wakayama Kenritsu Taiikukan on August 28 as well as facingYoshinari Ogawa in a singles match at the Osaka Chou Taiikukan the following night. In April 2000, substituting for an injuredReno Riggins, he andSteven Dunn defended theNWA World Tag Team Championship losing the title toThe Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton &Robert Gibson) inWaegwan,South Korea.[7]
The following year, he appeared on the undercard of theGiant Baba Memorial Spectacular teaming withJohnny Smith andJim Steele in a 6-man tag team match defeatingMike Rotunda,Curt Hennig andBarry Windham (substituting forKendall Windham) at theTokyo Dome on January 28, 2001.[8][9]
He participated in All Japan Pro Wrestling'sChampion Carnival tournament facing Mike Barton, Toshiaki Kawada,Taiyō Kea, Johnny Smith, Jim Steele, Steve Williams, Gen'ichiro Tenryu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara between March 23 and April 8.[10]
During the next several months, he appeared in high-profile matches atBudokan Hall and was pinned bySatoshi Kojima during a tag team matchSteve Williams against Kojima &Hiroyoshi Tenzan on April 14. He later teamed with Mike Barton to defeatNobutaka Araya &Shigeo Okumura on June 8 as well defeatingYoshiaki Fujiwara,Yuto Aijima &Ryuji Hijikata in a 6-man tag team match withKasey Geyer andShawn Hernandez after pinning Aijima on July 14. Later that year, he teamed with Jim Steele &Vampiro losing to Hiroshi Hase, Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda on September 8.
At AJPW's "29th Anniversary Show" at Budokan Hall on October 27, George Hines, Johnny Smith andKazushi Miyamoto defeatedMasato Tanaka,Ryuji Hijikata andNobukazu Hirai when Hines pinned Hirai. With Johnny Smith and Vampiro, Hines also beat Arashi, Nobukazu Hirai andKoki Kitahara on December 7, 2001.
On February 24, 2002, he defeatedYoji Anjoh, Arashi, & Nobutaka Araya in a 6-man match with Mike Barton and Jim Steele. The following month, during a Japanese PPV event, he andTomoaki Honma lost to Hiroshi Hase &Hideki Hosaka on April 13. A few weeks later, he teamed withKaz Hayashi andKeiji Mutoh to win theGiant Baba Memorial Six Man Tag Team Tournament. He and Johnny Smith also participated tag team match on July 20 againstMike Barton and Jim Steele, Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda andBrian Adams &Bryan Clark. After nearly half an hour, the match was eventually won by Mike Barton & Jim Steele after Barton pinned Rotunda.
On August 30, in a 2-day PPV event at Budokan Hall, Hines teamed with Johnny Smith andGran Hamada to defeat Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda &Gran Naniwa when Hines pinned Naniwa. The following night, Hines was featured in the main event facingGenichiro Tenryu, Steve Williams, Arashi, Koki Kitahara, &Masao Orihara in a 10-man tag team "elimination" match withKeiji Mutoh, Hiroshi Hase,Jinsei Shinzaki andKaz Hayashi. Pinned by Arashi, he was the second man to be eliminated and his team eventually lost the match with Genichiro Tenryu and Steve Williams as the survivors. Hines would again appear on a live PPV broadcast during AJPW's "30th Anniversary Show" at Budokan Hall teaming with Mike Barton and Jim Steele to defeat Arashi, Nobutaka Araya and Nobukazu Hirai on October 27, 2002.[11]
On April 3, he was pinned by Satoshi Kojima during a tag team match withKeiji Mutoh against Kojima & Jimmy Yang at the Tomioka-cho Gym inFukushima, Japan. The following night at Fukushima's "Big Palette" inKooriyama City, he teamed with Satoshi Kojima and Kaz Hayashi losing to Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi, & Nobutaka Araya in a 6-man tag team match after being pinned by Arashi. On April 5, he and Gigantes teamed to defeat Tomoaki Honma & Kazushi Miyamoto at the Nagaoka City Welfare Hall inNiigata, Japan.[12]
Continuing to team withGigantes, the two also defeated Hiroshi Hase &Masayuki Kono at Budokan Hall on April 12. Two months later, he teamed with"Big" John Tenta &Robbie Brookside to defeat Hiroshi Hase, Masayuki Kono & Shigeo Okumura in a PPV event at Budokan Hall on July 19, 2003.[11]
Hines would also have a brief stint inIWA Japan and, in August 2004, entered a championship tournament for the IWA Japan Heavyweight Championship advancing to the quarterfinals before being eliminated byThe Barbarian.[13]
Returning to AJPW in early 2005, he teamed with Mike Barton and Jim Steele to defeatJamal,Chuck Palumbo &Rodney Mack (14:02) at the "Giant Baba Farewell" supercard on February 5, 2005.[11]
Hines is a playable character in the 2004 video gameKing of Colosseum II.
Returning to the United States, he and his brother Bobby Fulton came out of retirement for a one-time appearance againstThe Assassins at an event for Big Time Wrestling on September 2, 2006. He retired shortly thereafter. Hines is reuniting with his brother Bobby Fulton on April 12, 2019, at the NCWA's Chair City Clash in tag team action against George South and Dangerous E.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)