 Clark in 1995 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bryan Emmett Clark (1964-03-14)March 14, 1964 (age 61)[2] Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.[4] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Adam Bomb[1] Bryan Clark[2] The Nightstalker[2] Wrath[2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (132 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Three Mile Island[1] Devil's Island |
| Trained by | Jody Hamilton[2] DeWayne Bruce[2] |
| Debut | 1989[3] |
| Retired | 2003 |
Bryan Emmett Clark (born March 14, 1964)[2] is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), andAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) under thering namesThe Nightstalker,Adam Bomb,Wrath and his real name. He is a formertwo-timeWCW World Tag Team Champion andone-timeAJPW World Tag Team Champion with hisKroniK teammate,Brian Adams.[1]
Clark made his wrestling debut in 1989 under the ring nameThe Nightstalker, after completing training underJody Hamilton andDeWayne Bruce inAtlanta, Georgia. After working matches on the independent circuit, Clark joined theMinnesota-basedAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA). He appeared at live AWA house shows and television events, mainly in the midwestern United States, with some of these matches being broadcast onESPN'sAWA Championship Wrestling show (ESPN Classic continues to air re-runs of the show). Wrestling legendOx Baker began to manage Clark during this time, providing for some classic promotional segments with Baker on the microphone. The Nightstalker had a feud with The Trooper (Del Wilkes, later to be known asThe Patriot). This began as The Nightstalker appeared during a Trooper match versus W.T. Jones on April 13, 1990, at anESPN televised show in Rochester, Minnesota. Ox Baker began to challenge any and all wrestlers to includeLarry Zbyszko, even telling The Trooper that he "couldn't even join the boy scouts". Clark's in-ring look included black and white face paint, while gripping an over-sized hatchet.
As the AWA went into dormancy in the fall of 1990, Clark made the jump toWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW).[5] He made his first appearance on the November 10 edition ofWCW Saturday Night and defeated enhancement talentGary Jackson. Ten days later, Clark was defeated bySid Vicious atClash of the Champions XIII: Thanksgiving Thunder. He then formed an alliance withThe Big Cat and was scheduled to team with him against Vicious andDan Spivey atStarrcade. Clark would miss the pay-per-view and be replaced byThe Motor City Madman.[6]
Clark would be absent from WCW until October 1991, when he made an appearance as a masked "ghoul" atHalloween Havoc. Two months later he replaced an injuredDiamond Studd atStarrcade to team withRick Steiner in a losing effort toVader andMr. Hughes. He would depart WCW shortly thereafter.[7]
Clark moved ontoHerb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), making his first appearance on June 19, 1992, at a TV taping inSpartanburg, South Carolina. He had three matches, defeating Johnny Kid and Jake Steele while losing by disqualification to Death Row 3260.[8][9]
Clark joinedSmoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) in October 1992 after being suggested tobookerJim Cornette byPaul Orndorff, making his debut on a show inKnoxville, Tennessee, losing toSMW Heavyweight ChampionBrian Lee by countout.[10] He later defeatedTracy Smothers to become the promotion's second-everSMW Beat the Champ Television Champion on February 2, 1993. Clark lost the title toTim Horner six days later, and left the promotion soon thereafter when he was offered a contract by theWorld Wrestling Federation.[11]
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On March 8, 1993, Clark received a tryout match for theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), wrestlingReno Riggins at aWWF Superstars taping inNorth Charleston, South Carolina asThe Nightstalker. He had another tryout match the following night at aWWF Wrestling Challenge taping, defeating Ricky Nelson.[12] In May 1993, Clark debuted asAdam Bomb, the newest client ofJohnny Polo.[13] Wearing luminous greencontact lenses and sporting a red tongue, Bomb'sgimmick was that of a survivor of the infamousThree Mile Island nuclear meltdown accident that took place in Pennsylvania in 1979, which was further emphasized by his ring name being a pun on the "atom bomb".[13] Furthermore, the Adam Bomb character was actually billed fromThree Mile Island. Seven months after his debut,Harvey Wippleman replaced Polo as Bomb's manager because Polo wanted to focus on managing WWF Tag Team ChampionsThe Quebecers. The Adam Bomb concept and costume was designed and created byTom Fleming.[14]
Bomb made hispay-per-view debut atSurvivor Series, where he teamed up withIrwin R. Schyster,Diesel and"The Model" Rick Martel againstRazor Ramon,The 1-2-3 Kid,Marty Jannetty and"The Macho Man" Randy Savage in an elimination match. His team went on to lose the match, though he was the last remaining wrestler for his team before being pinned by Jannetty after a roll-up.
Following this, he participated in the1994 Royal Rumble, where he was the final entrant in the match. However, he lasted less than five minutes before being eliminated byLex Luger. He also was one of nine wrestlers who helped Yokozuna beat Undertaker during a Casket match. Following the Rumble and a feud withEarthquake, atWrestleMania X, Bomb was defeated by Earthquake in 35 seconds. The two had a more competitive rematch the following night onRaw, which Bomb also lost. Bomb would soonturnface after his manager Harvey Wippleman turned on him in favor of his new client,Kwang, leading Kwang in attacking Bomb. As a face, Adam Bomb would throw rubber nuclear missiles into the audience as he walked to the ring and after he won a match. After briefly feuding with Kwang andBam Bam Bigelow, Bomb was moved down the card and began competing exclusively onWWF Superstars before abruptly quitting the promotion in August 1995. Clark cited unhappiness with pay and the rigorous WWF travel schedule as his reasons for leaving. Clark also claimed that a promised run with theWWF Intercontinental Championship, which would have resulted in higher pay, was not fulfilled and a significant factor in his decision to leave.[15]
After leaving WWF, Clark continued using the Adam Bomb name in the independent circuit and England in 1996 where he worked for Hammerlock Bomb Alert Tour withAndre Baker.
AtUncensored onMarch 16, 1997, Clark rejoined WCW asWrath, a helmeted martial artist, who joinedMortis to attackGlacier after Glacier defeated Mortis. Wrath would then team with Mortis as the two were managed byJames Vanderberg to feud with Glacier. Wrath's first televised match occurred on the May 12 episode ofNitro, in which he defeatedScotty Riggs. AtSlamboree, Wrath attacked Glacier during a rematch between Glacier and Mortis, and then Wrath and Mortis double-teamed Glacier until the debutingErnest Miller made the save. Miller began teaming with Glacier to feud with Wrath and Mortis. The four characters, collectively known as "Blood Runs Cold", was WCW's attempt to tap into the popularity of theMortal Kombat video games. Wrath would then compete in his first pay-per-view match atThe Great American Bash against Glacier, which Wrath lost. AtBash at the Beach, Wrath and Mortis defeated Glacier and Miller to hand Glacier, his first pinfall loss in WCW.
Wrath and Mortis would then feud withThe Faces of Fear (Meng andThe Barbarian), defeating them in a match atFall Brawl. The following night, onNitro, Wrath and Mortis unsuccessfully challengedThe Outsiders (Kevin Nash andScott Hall) for theWorld Tag Team Championship. AtWorld War 3, Wrath participated in thenamesake match to earn a futureWorld Heavyweight Championship opportunity.Scott Hall won the match. The Blood Runs Coldangle continued until 1998 when Clark suffered an injury.
After recovery, he returned to singles action later in the year as aface, debuting both a new attire and finishing move called theMeltdown while all Blood Runs Cold references were phased out. Wrath had a lengthy undefeated streak on WCW television, defeating various wrestlers including Meng atHalloween Havoc and Glacier atWorld War 3. Due to the impressive win record, Clark was rumored to be slated to become a future challenger toBill Goldberg but had his win streak was broken on the November 23 episode ofNitro with a loss toKevin Nash. Wrath would continue to gain many victories into 1999 and entered a feud withBam Bam Bigelow, leading to a match between the two atSouled Out, which Wrath lost. Clark tore hisACL in a match againstJerry Flynn on April 15, 1999, and spent a year recuperating.[16]
Clark returned to the ring in April 2000, now using his real name. He formed a tag team withBrian Adams known asKroniK, and both became members ofthe New Blood.[16] However, KroniK switched allegiances to theMillionaires Club afterVince Russo betrayed them and, on May 15, 2000, they defeatedShane Douglas andThe Wall to win the vacantWorld Tag Team Championship.[16] They later lost the title on May 30 to New Blood membersShawn Stasiak andChuck Palumbo. KroniK was granted a rematch for the title atBash at the Beach on July 9, and was successful in reclaiming World Tag Team Championship.[16] KroniK then entered afeud with the entireNatural Born Thrillersstable, but retained the title against the Thrillers before losing it toVampiro andThe Great Muta atNew Blood Rising on August 13.[16] Following the title loss, KroniK turnedheel after Vince Russo managed to bribe them in order to have them attackBill Goldberg, who would be fired if he lost a single match. However, Goldberg managed to overcome the odds and pinned both Clark and Adams in ahandicap match atHalloween Havoc.[16] KroniK continued working as "hired muscle" by helpingThe Boogie Knights battleThe Filthy Animals, and eventually helped their former enemies the Natural Born Thrillers before turning face once again in January 2001 by siding withErnest Miller.
KroniK was sidelined when Clark needed stitches for a wound from achair shot while Adams was hospitalized withappendicitis. While they were injured, WCW was purchased by theWorld Wrestling Federation in March 2001.
Clark and Adams returned to the WWF on the September 4, 2001, episode ofSmackDown! by attacking anddouble chokeslammingThe Undertaker, and aligning themselves withStevie Richards as their manager.[17] KroniK would go on to faceThe Brothers of Destruction atUnforgiven in a match for the WCW Tag Team Championship, which Clark and Adams lost. After two dark matches and a pay-per-view appearance that WWF officials were unhappy with, Clark and Adams were reportedly asked to go to developmental. Clark allegedly left the meeting on the spot and was released from his contract shortly thereafter, while Adams made appearances for theHeartland Wrestling Association inCincinnati, Ohio, which served as one of WWF's developmental territories, before ultimately being released as well.
After Adams & Clark were released from the WWF in November 2001, as KroniK they made a number of appearances on theindependent circuit, as well as the start-up promotionWorld Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) and prominent Japanese promotionAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). During their time in AJPW, they defeatedKeiji Mutoh andTaiyō Kea for theAJPW World Tag Team Championship on July 17, 2002.[2] KroniK were later stripped of the title due to contract problems, and they wrestled their last match together in January 2003, losing toGoldberg andKeiji Mutoh.[18] Shortly afterwards, both Adams and Clark retired from wrestling due to injuries.
In February 2006, Clark had surgery on his lower back for injuries sustained during his in-ring career.[19] He owns the Trademarks to the KroniK, Adam Bomb and Wrath gimmicks from his time in WCW and the WWF.[citation needed] Following the death of his partner Brian Adams, Clark considered their time together as part of KroniK to be the highlight of his career. He occasionally trains other wrestlers and appears at conventions.
In July 2016, Clark was named part of aclass action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[20] The lawsuit was dismissed by US District JudgeVanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.[21] The lawsuit is now being heard by the Supreme Court in the fall of 2021.
In February 2020, Clark was indicted inMaricopa County, Arizona on five felony charges relating to alleged acts between January and April 2019. Charges includedconspiracy, drug possession, illegal control of enterprise, transporting or selling narcotics, and possessing a weapon during a drug offense. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.[22] On June 18, 2021, all charges were "dismissed by prosecution motion"[1] in the Superior Court of Maricopa County.[23] thus causing Clark's entire case to be thrown out.
Clark is aUnited States Air Force veteran.[24]
They later won the WCW Tag Team Titles on two occasions.
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