Reno Riggins | |
---|---|
Birth name | Neal Hargrove |
Born | (1967-01-13)January 13, 1967 (age 58) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Reno Riggins |
Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
Billed weight | 229 lb (104 kg) |
Trained by | Tojo Yamamoto |
Debut | 1986 |
Retired | 2011 |
Neal Hargrove, better known by hisring name,Reno Riggins, (born January 13, 1967) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. Riggins has competed in Southeastern independent promotions including theUnited States Wrestling Association (USWA) during the 1990s.
Hargrove was the final wrestler to be trained byTojo Yamamoto before Yamamato's death in 1992.
Hargrove made hisWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut as Reno Riggins in March 1988, spending several years as anenhancement talent, competing against many of the topheels of the time.[1] He also appeared in a dark match losing toRip Rogers at the NWA'sHalloween Havoc in October 1990.[2] Leaving the WWF in 1992, he began competing for the USWA and eventually won theUSWA Southern Heavyweight Championship fromBrian Christopher in August 1992.[3] After a brief stint inSmoky Mountain Wrestling in early 1993, he returned to the WWF and frequently appeared as an enhancement talent (now as a heel puttingover numerousfaces) onMonday Night Raw until deciding to retire in early 1995.
Following the close of the USWA in 1997, Hargrove came out of retirement and began teaming withSteven Dunn as "The Tennessee Volunteers" in Music City Wrestling feuding withFlash Flanagan andWolfie D over the promotion's North American tag team titles (later renamed the NWA North American Tag Team Championship) during the late 1990s.[4] They also made an appearance for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) on an episode of Shotgun Saturday Night againstThe Hardy Boyz. Appearing at the firstBrian Pillman Memorial Show in 1998, he and Dunn would later compete as "Main Event" in the National Wrestling Alliance eventually winning the NWA World Tag Team titles in Eskan,Saudi Arabia on April 7, 2000. Hargrove now does advertising, commentating and booking forShowtime All-Star Wrestling.[5] He retired from wrestling in 2011.
1His reign as NWA World Tag Team Champion began while wrestling on a card in Saudi Arabia. Records are unclear as for what promotion he wrestled at the time, as they are for when he first became NWA North American Tag Team Champion.