 Laurinaitis, circa 1988 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marcus Laurinaitis (1965-02-21)February 21, 1965 (age 60) |
| Family | John Laurinaitis (brother) Road Warrior Animal (brother) James Laurinaitis (nephew) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Fury The Terminator |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Billed weight | 270 lb (120 kg; 19 st) |
| Trained by | Road Warrior Animal John Laurinaitis Nelson Royal Gene Anderson Ric Flair Dusty Rhodes [1] |
| Debut | 1987 |
| Retired | 1998 |
Marcus Laurinaitis (born February 21, 1965) is anAmerican retiredprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,The Terminator. He wrestled primarily in Florida (FCW), Japan (All-Japan Pro Wrestling & New Japan Pro Wrestling), and Europe (CWA), as well withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW). He is the brother of fellow professional wrestlersJohn Laurinaitis andRoad Warrior Animal.
Marcus made his debut in 1987 after being trained by his brothers Joseph and John, as well as byGene Anderson andNelson Royal,[1] and initially worked for Dusty Rhodes in Texas for a new NWA under the name The Terminator. He joined Devastation Incorporated managed by Skandor Akbar and tagged with The Angel of Death and Black Bart. He made a run with The Fabulous Freebirds, Sting, Rick Steiner and the Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner tag team. One of his earliest encounters with the Fabulous Freebirds was at the New Orleans Superdome in a First Blood cage match where The Terminator was one of the last to survive the blood bath until Terry Gordy eventually defeated him. In late 1987 Marcus toured withAll Japan Pro Wrestling in November and December. While in Japan he teamed up withTom Zenk to participate in the 1987 version of theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League where he competed against such teams asJumbo Tsuruta andYoshiaki Yatsu (the winners),Jimmy Snuka andBruiser Brody,The Great Kabuki andJohn Tenta,[2] andTerry andDory Funk, Jr. The Terminator and Zenk finished in 11th place only ahead ofMark andChris Youngblood.[3]
After the tour Marcus returned to Florida where he participated in a tournament to crown a newNWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, losing in the final toMike Graham.[4] When Marcus returned he also teamed up with his brother Johnny to challenge for theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship chasing the champions Mike Graham andSteve Keirn until September 20, 1988, where the Laurinaitis brothers won the gold.[4] Marcus and Johnny defended the titles for over 3 months until they came across Florida newcomersThe Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags andBrian Knobs) who took the gold from them. The brothers would come back strong only 3 weeks later to regain their gold and hold on to it until March 24, 1989, where the Nasty Boys once again beat them for the gold.[4] During their second run with the gold Marcus and Johnny also toured withAll Japan Pro Wrestling as a team.[5] Shortly afterwards Johnny Ace left Florida Championship Wrestling to compete inJim Crockett Promotions as one of the “Dynamic Dudes” (withShane Douglas). The team known as the Bounty Hunters won the Florida tag team titles in November, but when one of the Bounty Hunters was injured Marcus stepped in and teamed up with the other Bounty Hunter to defend the tag team titles. The team held the gold until the Nasty Boys beat them on a card inNassau, Bahamas on January 6, 1990.[4]
While competing in Florida Marcus ended up teaming withAl Green (who was known as “The Bounty Hunter”), initially as a makeshift team because Green’s other partner got injured but soon the two started teaming regularly first under the nameThe Terminators then later on asThe Wrecking Crew where Laurinaitis became known as "Fury" and Green was renamed “Rage”. The team competed for the International Wrestling Federation based in Florida showing themselves to be a force in the tag team division. On May 28, 1992, the duo beat IWF Tag Team ChampionsThe Long Riders (Brett Colt andKip Winchester).[4] By late 1992 the Wrecking Crew got signed byWorld Championship Wrestling, making their debut in January 1993.[6] Shortly after their debut the Wrecking Crew got national exposure by competing atClash of the Champions XXII on January 13 where they defeated Tom Zenk andJohnny Gunn.[7] After their success at the clash the team rode on a wave of success defeating Gunn and Zenk repeatedly[8][9] as well as looking impressive against temporary teams such as2 Cold Scorpio &Johnny B. Badd[10] andMarcus Bagwell & Joey Maggs.[11] By March the team was contesting a series of matches with futureWCW World Tag Team Champions 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell[12] as well as feuding with the identical twin duo known asThe Cole Twins (Keith and Kent Cole).[13] The feud with the Cole Twins was soon expanded to also include Bagwell and Scorpio as well asTex Slazenger andShanghai Pierce.[14] As the feud wore on the Cole Twins got the upper hand in the feud over the two big men.[15] The Wrecking Crew also faced”Cactus” Jack andThe Barbarian in a series of house show matches.[16] As summer turned to fall, the Wrecking Crew’s time with WCW ended, returning to the independent scene. In 1994 the Wrecking Crew traveled to Europe to work forOtto Wanz’Catch Wrestling Association. On July 24 they defeatedDavid Finlay andJohn Hawk in the finals of a tournament to crown new CWA Tag Team Champions afterLarry Cameron had died during a match.[4] Rage & Fury held the belts for only 3 weeks before being unseated by CWA regularsAugust Smisl andUlf Herman inVienna, Austria.[4] The Wrecking Crew also worked in South Africa at this time for promoter Paul Lloyd touring through Johannesburg, Durbin and Cape Town. In 1995 the Wrecking Crew toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling over the summer being put over young teams like Kentaro Shiga andMaunakea Mossman.[17] The highlight of their summer tour was a clash with multiple timeAll Asia Tag Team ChampionsDoug Furnas andDan Kroffat which the Wrecking Crew lost.[18]
The Great Kabuki & John Tenta beat Tom Zenk & The Terminator (9:30) when Tenta pinned Terminator
11. Tom Zenk & The Terminator [2]
Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki beat Johnny Ace & The Terminator (15:20) when KAwada pinned Terminator
(shown on WCW World Wide January 16) The Wrecking Crew defeated Joey Maggs & Johnny Rich at 4:24 when Rage pinned Maggs following their finishing move the "Wrecking Ball" (Back Breaker over the shoulder with an elbow off the top rope)
(shown on WCW Saturday Night on February 20) The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk
The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk
2 Cold Scorpio & Johnny B. Badd fought the Wrecking Crew to a draw
The Wrecking Crew defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Joey Maggs
2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated the Wrecking Crew
(shown on WCW Saturday Night on March 13) Keith & Kent Cole defeated Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce when Pierce was pinned following a double dropkick at around the 3:30 mark; after the bout, the Coles avoided an attack from the Wrecking Crew, Tex & Shanghai
(shown on WCW Saturday Night on May 1) The Wrecking Crew, Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce defeated 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Keith & Kent Cole via disqualification
Keith & Kent Cole defeated the Wrecking Crew
Cactus Jack & the Barbarian defeated the Wrecking Crew when Cactus pinned Rage
The Wrecking Crew beat Kentaro Shiga & Maunukea Mossman (7:41)
Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas beat The Wrecking Crew (10:49)