 Harris in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christopher Eric Harris (1973-12-25)December 25, 1973 (age 51) Bremerton, Washington, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Braden Walker Wildcat Chris Harris Sting Bobby Action |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (113 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Fort Wright, Kentucky[1] |
| Trained by | Charlie Fulton Kid Collins Roger Ruffen |
| Debut | November 1994 |
Christopher Eric Harris (born December 25, 1973) is an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by thering name"Wildcat" Chris Harris. He is best known for his time withNWA Total Nonstop Action (TNA) as one-half of thetag teamAmerica's Most Wanted alongsideJames Storm, where the duo won theNWA World Tag Team Championshipsix times. He is also known for his appearances withWorld Wrestling Entertainment asBraden Walker.
Harris debuted in November 1994. Over the next several years, he wrestled primarily inKentucky for promotions such as the Northern Wrestling Federation. In August 1996, he made two appearances with theWorld Wrestling Federation, wrestling two matches onWWF Superstars.
Along with several other wrestlers, including future tag team partner James Storm, Harris was signed to aWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) developmental deal in October 1999.Terry Taylor proposed a country singer gimmick for him, but it was rejected by management. He appeared as a fake version ofSting atHalloween Havoc in 2000.[2] He wrestled on the WCW B-showsWorldWide andSaturday Night against the likes ofElix Skipper,Curt Hennig,Shannon Moore,Shane Douglas andBooker T among others and he was also a part ofR andB Security until the promotion was sold in early 2001.
On June 1, 2002, Harris was given a tryout match against his long-time independent circuit rival James Storm withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) by Bert Prentice.[1] Both were subsequently signed to short-term contracts. He wrestled in the Gauntlet for the Gold match on the first TNA pay-per-view and was placed in a tag team with Storm on the second pay-per-view by Bob Ryder, the creative force behind the team. Storm came up with the name "America's Most Wanted" (AMW) for the team. They obtained their first success on September 18, 2002, by surviving a tag team Gauntlet for the Gold and defeatingRon Harris andBrian Lee to obtain theNWA World Tag Team Championship.[1]
In March and April 2003 the duo teased a split, with Storm and Harris facing off in a singles match on May 7, 2003. Storm won the match, but the partners shook hands afterward. Harris rejected Vince Russo's offer to join his stable of degenerates,Sports Entertainment Xtreme (S.E.X). When Storm was incapacitated by the recurrence of an old shoulder injury in early 2004, Harris received aNWA World Championship shot on March 17, 2004, and was defeated by championJeff Jarrett. He went on to compete in a"King of the Mountain" ladder match for the title on June 2, 2004, but was again bested by Jarrett.
America's Most Wanted resumed teaming together, but on August 25, 2004, Storm was sidelined with neck and shoulder injuries, leaving Harris without a partner. Harris teamed withElix Skipper to win an NWA Tag Team Title for a fifth time on September 8, 2004. Harris and Storm later reunited. On January 16, 2005 Harris became a six time NWA Tag Team Champion (along with Storm), winning the title fromBobby Roode andEric Young. Harris won the title for a sixth and seventh time as part of AMW. In league with Jeff Jarrett, he would semi-reprise his role as a fake Sting when he played the Crow Sting in aPlanet Jarrett retrospective of Sting's career onImpact! on January 7, 2006.
America's Most Wanted split as a team on the December 14, 2006 edition ofImpact! during a tag team match with LAX in a Titles vs Team match. Storm effectively chose the outcome of the match by assaulting Harris with a beer bottle, temporarily blinding him in one eye. This allowed Harris to be pinned by Homicide, putting an end to AMW.
On the January 11, 2007 episode ofImpact! Harris did a (kayfabe) sit-down interview with Mike Tenay giving a strong impression his wrestling career could be over. Harris was not seen on television until theAgainst All Odds pay-per-view in which he (wearing an eye patch) went for Storm. For several weeks, he continued to attack Storm. On the March 1, 2007 episode ofImpact! Harris claimed his vision was at 30% and vowed revenge on Storm. AtLockdown, Harris lost to Storm in Six Sides of Steel match, in which both men were blindfolded. It was revealed his vision had been restored, and Harris faced off against Storm atSacrifice, in a Texas Death match, where Harris came out the victor. After this, Harris showed up two weeks straight to assistRhino andHector Guerrero withThe Latin American Xchange (LAX). Harris entered intoSlammiversary as the last contestant in the King of the Mountain Match, only to lose toKurt Angle. Harris feuded withChristian Cage, losing to him by roll-up atVictory Road afterDustin Rhodes hit him in the back.
The Harris/Rhodes feud continued for a few weeks with Rhodes attacking Harris during his matches onImpact! until a match was made atHard Justice, when Harris defeated "Black Reign" Dustin Rhodes viadisqualification and atNo Surrender Harris defeated Black Reign in aNo Disqualification match by pinning Reign. AtBound for Glory, Harris competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. AtTurning Point, Harris competed in theFeast or Fired match but failed to win the match. on the December 13 episode of Impact, Harris lost toBooker T. On the January 3, 2008 episode of Impact, Harris competed in the TNA Heavyweight Gauntlet Match which was won by Christian Cage. On January 10 episode of Impact, Harris lost toJudas Mesias. On January 11, 2008, TNA announced on its website that Harris had been released from his TNA contract.
On January 29, 2008, Harris announced that he had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).[3] HarrispinnedShelton Benjamin in his WWE debut on March 11, 2008, in adark match. On the July 8 episode ofECW, he made his WWE television debut under the ring name "Braden Walker", defeatingArmando Estrada.[4] He wrestled one more match, a pinfall victory overJames Curtis, before he was released from his WWE contract on August 7, 2008.[5]
In early September, Harris appeared at the Northern Wrestling Federation (NWF), challenging NWF Heavyweight Champion Ryan Stone.[6] On March 28, 2009, Harris wrestled a match forFull Impact Pro (FIP), losing toChris Hero.[7]
On the June 24, 2010 episode ofImpact!, Harris made a one-night return to TNA, portraying a fakeSting character.[8] On the May 12, 2011 episode ofImpact!, Harris made his return to TNA as a member of theheelstableImmortal, when he was introduced byMatt Hardy as his partner in theirTNA World Tag Team Championship match againstBeer Money, Inc. (James Storm andRobert Roode).[9][10] Harris made his in-ring return on May 6 at ahouse show, teaming with Matt Hardy against Beer Money, Inc. in a losing effort.[11] On May 15 atSacrifice, Harris and Hardy failed in their attempt to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Beer Money, when Storm pinned Harris.[12] After the event, it was reported that TNA had chosen not to use Harris again.[13]
On the March 30, 2021 episode ofImpact, Harris made his second return to TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling, appearing ringside forJames Storm's 1000th match in the company and aiding him in defeatingEric Young.[14][15] In June 2022 atSlammiversary, Harris and James Storm came to ringside following a bout between theBriscoes and theGood Brothers.
On July 1, 2022 Harris had an AMW reunion in a match withJames Storm teamed up withGood Brothers &Heath Slater atAgainst All Odds, where they defeatedHonor No More.
On the September 21, 2023 episode ofImpact, America’s Most Wanted (Harris & James Storm) and Team Canada (Eric Young & Scott D’Amore) defeated The Design (Deaner & Kon), Kenny King and Sheldon Jean.
He appeared in the music video for theClay Davidson song "I Can't Lie to Me".[16]
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