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 Brown in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Accie Julius Connor[4] (1973-10-22)October 22, 1973 (age 52)[3] |
| Alma mater | University of Maine |
Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | A.C. Corner A.C. Connor Ace the Animal Ace Brown D'Lo Brown |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 268 lb (122 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Chicago, Illinois[2] |
| Trained by | Al Snow[3] Larry Sharpe |
| Debut | 1994[3] |
Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1973), better known by hisring nameD'Lo Brown (also formatted asD-Lo Brown), is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He is signed toTNA Wrestling, where he works as aproducer. He is best known for his time withWWE. Brown is also known for his appearances inRing of Honor,All Japan Pro Wrestling, andPro Wrestling Noah.[6]
Connor began his wrestling career inNew Jersey as "Ace the Animal". He then wrestledEarthquake in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1994 under his given name as ajobber.
Connor debuted inSmoky Mountain Wrestling in September 1994 as "A.C. Conner". In October 1994, he was renamed "'Downtown' D'Lo Brown" and introduced as the head of security forthe Gangstas (Mustapha Saed andNew Jack). Brown was theworker of thestable, complementing Saed's size and Jack's animated personality. He regularly wrestled onSmoky Mountain Wrestling's television show, unsuccessfully challenged for theSMW Beat the Champ Television Championship on several occasions. At Sunday Bloody Sunday II in February 1995, the Gangstas lost to theHeavenly Bodies andJim Cornette. At Bluegrass Brawl III in April 1995, the Gangstas lost toTracy Smothers andThe Undertaker in ahandicap match. Brown wrestled his final match for Smoky Mountain Wrestling in October 1995.
After leaving Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Brown signed a deal with the WWF and was sent to theHeartland Wrestling Association for more training while also making appearances as a jobber on WWF television. Brown also spent most of 1996 wrestling inPuerto Rico for theWorld Wrestling Council.
In April 1997, Brown was reintroduced to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a member ofFaarooq'sheelNation of Dominationstable, debuting as one of several non-descript people in suits that accompanied the group to the ring. During this time, his most notable moment was whenAhmed Johnson slammed him onto the roof of a car duringShotgun Saturday Night. His first televised match as a member of the Nation was on the April 26, 1997, episode ofShotgun Saturday Night, as he,Crush, andSavio Vega defeatedAldo Montoya,Steve Corino, andFreddie Joe Floyd. On May 26, 1997, he had his first match onRaw is War, defeatingBob "Spark Plugg" Holly. After theKing of the Ring 1997, Faarooq fired the rest of the Nation's members, except for D-Lo, who was later joined byAhmed Johnson (later replaced byRocky Maivia),Kama Mustafa, andMark Henry.
In early 1998, the Nation of Dominationturned on Faarooq, allowing Maivia, now going by the name "The Rock", to assume leadership. During this period Kama also changed his name to "The Godfather" and began portraying a pimp character. Brown and Henry eventually turned on both Rock and Godfather separately, moving into a feud with the Rock before finally branching out as a moderately successfultag team, later turningface along the way. Prior to the face turn, Brown had started wrestling with a chest protector, supposedly for a tornpectoral muscle sustained in a match againstDan "The Beast" Severn. Instead, he used the chest protector to his advantage, making his finishing move, theLo Down, more effective.[7]
In 1998, he feuded withX-Pac over theWWF European Championship. His career peaked when he held theEuropean andIntercontinental Championships simultaneously during a feud withJeff Jarrett and Mark Henry. This feat has only been duplicated byJeff Jarrett,Kurt Angle, andRob Van Dam, all of whom becameworld champions in some form, later in their careers.
Brown was involved in inadvertently ending the career ofDroz on October 5, 1999, when arunning powerbomb wasbotched due to Droz's baggy shirt. The match was filmed for the October 7 edition ofSmackDown!, but was never aired. Droz suffered a severe neck injury, rendering him aquadriplegic.[6] During an interview with Title Match Wrestling, Brown dispelled a popular rumor that a fan had thrown an object into the ring which caused him to slip and badly injure Darren Drozdov. Brown took responsibility for botching the move, stating that the accident could have happened to "any" wrestler he had been in the ring with that night. He also said the accident caused him to "wrestle differently" and to second guess every move he performed in the ring from that day forward.[8] Drozdov maintained that he did not blame Brown for his injuries and believed the incident was an accident.[9]
During the rest of the year and into some of the next, Brown became an ally of former fellow Nation member The Godfather, emulating his dress and walking motions. The teaming ended when Brown turned heel on the Godfather.[6]
Brown then formed a tag team in July 2000 withChaz namedLo Down. The team mostly wrestled onSunday Night Heat andWWE Jakked / Metal. Shortly after the team formed,Tiger Ali Singh joined the team to become theirmanager. The tag team then came dressed towards the ring inSikh attire and took on agimmick very similar to Tiger's.[6] The team was removed from WWFtelevision in January 2001 after Singh was injured.[10] According to Brown, it was the lowest point in his career. Chaz and Singh were later released by WWE while Brown stayed in WWE'sdevelopmental territory, OVW. Notably, Brown wrestled future World championBatista in a losing effort. Brown also spent six months in Puerto Rico wrestling for theInternational Wrestling Association teaming with Glamour Boy Shane holding the IWA tag team titles.[10] Later that year he returned to OVW and worked forHeartland Wrestling Association going into 2002.
Brown returned to television on the April 28, 2002, episode ofHeat, losing toEddie Guerrero. For the rest of the year, Brown mostly wrestled onHeat, did a little bit of commentary on the show, and even started a brief feud withRaven. In late 2002,Theodore Long retired as a WWEreferee and managed D'Lo, who had complained about acts ofracism during his matches. D'Lo started Long's group Thuggin' and Buggin' Enterprises which eventually turned into a group of African Americans who worked an angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the "white man". With Long's managerial services, D'Lo Brown went undefeated for several weeks.[6]
Brown facedBooker T in a losing effort on the February 10, 2003, episode ofRaw. His involvement with Thuggin' and Buggin' Enterprises was brought to a close when footage was shown on the February 16 episode (taped February 10) ofHeat of Theodore Long kicking D'Lo Brown to the curb and introducing his replacementRodney Mack.[6] He was then released from his WWE contract on February 14, 2003.[6]
Connor, still under the D'Lo Brown name, JoinedNWA Total Nonstop Action in March 2003. During his time in TNA, he teamed withAJ Styles on many occasions together even challenging for the NWA World Tag Team Championships but were unsuccessful. After the team split up Brown challenged Styles for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship but came up short on every occasion doing a best of 3 series.
On the March 19, 2003, edition of NWA-TNA, Brown teamed withDusty Rhodes andJeff Jarrett defeatingErik Watts,Brian Lawler andDavid Flair.[11] On April 2, 2003, edition of NWA-TNA weekly pay-per view D'Lo Brown unsuccessfully challenged Jeff Jarrett for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship.[12] On April 14, 2004, Brown andGran Apolo won theNWA World Tag Team Championships defeatingKid Kash andDallas, They lost the titles just seven days after winning them.[13] D'Lo later left TNA in the summer of 2004.
On a September 2014 interview, Brown said there was a time in TNA during this time where the creative team wanted to radically change his character; on top of not feeling like he was a good fit with TNA, Brown felt that by wrestling in Japan, he could still wrestle there while being D'Lo Brown.[10]
Brown JoinedAll Japan Pro Wrestling, competing in regular tours with the Japanese company as a member ofRoughly Obsess and Destroy (RO&D).[6] During one of these tours on September 17, 2006, Brown betrayed RO&D to join the rivalVoodoo Murders faction. Brown left All Japan in 2007 and rejoinedRO&D inPro Wrestling Noah.
When not in Japan, Brown was regularly found touring theUnited Kingdom, as well as working forIrish Whip Wrestling inIreland. In April 2005, Brown became one of the lead trainers of the ill-fatedCelebrity Wrestling onITV. This Saturday eveningreality show sawcelebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the programme was to be canceled, but was instead moved to Sunday mornings to finish its final episodes. During his time wrestling inEngland, he would face off in a series of matches against hisCelebrity Wrestling opposition's trainer,Joe Legend.
In 2008, Brown began wrestling in a number ofdark matches for WWE. On June 5, WWE announced that Brown had been signed to a contract, and he began working more dark matches for the company.[14] He made his television return on the July 21, 2008, edition ofRaw, defeatingSantino Marella. Following this, Brown's appearances on television became more sporadic, and on January 9, 2009, it was announced on WWE official website that he had been released from his WWE contract due to cost-cutting measures.[15]
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Brown debuted forRing of Honor during Proving Ground 09 weekend in February. He was defeated byNigel McGuinness in anROH World Championship match. He also wrestled at theROH 7th Anniversary Show on March 21, 2009, in Manhattan, defeatingJay Briscoe. Brown also appeared onRing of Honor Wrestling onHDNet. Varsity Pro Wrestling also announced that Brown would be making his third appearance for the promotion on their February tour. Brown also made a surprise appearance inChikara, where he filled in as a substitute for Iceberg of The Cold Front at the2009 King of Trios tournament. Brown came up short in anROH World Championship match atTake No Prisoners (2009). At ROH's Manhattan Mayhem III on June 13, Brown tapped out toColt Cabana in a four-way match also involvingBryan Danielson andClaudio Castagnoli. On June 27 on anROH show he was defeated by Cabana.
Throughout April and May 2009, Brown flew toJapan to take part in the 13-nightPro Wrestling Noah Global Tag League with his partnerBuchanan. During the course of the event they won and lost three matches with one contest went to a draw giving them seven points placing them sixth of the eight teams.[16] Outside of the tournament Brown was undefeated in six-man tag team competition, addingKeith Walker to the team, including a victory over Noah founderMitsuharu Misawa in one of his last matches.[17]
On the September 15, 2009, edition ofBetween The Ropes, Brown announced that after his current tour withRing of Honor, he would retire from in-ring action. Also, on this edition of Between The Ropes, Brown announced he would become a semi-regular co-host when hisTNA scheduling allowed him to be in studio.
He defeatedMr. Anderson on June 12, 2010, TCW event in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He did not wrestle again until 2013.
In September 2009, Connor was re-signed by TNA as their leadagent. Additionally, D'Lo was in charge of talent development and acquisitions heading up theTNA Gut Check program.[18]
On the March 7, 2013, episode ofImpact Wrestling, Brown attacked Kurt Angle and revealed himself as the Vice President ofAces & Eights, turning heel in the process.[19] Three days later atLockdown, Brown interfered in Angle's steel cage match against fellow Aces & Eights memberWes Brisco, costing Angle the match. Later that evening, the President of the Aces & Eights was revealed to beBully Ray.[19] Brown wrestled his first televised match in four years on the May 2 episode ofImpact Wrestling, losing to Kurt Angle in an I Quit Match.[20] As a result of his loss, Brown was demoted to a prospect the following week. On July 17, Brown announced he was released from his TNA contract.[4]
On August 11, 2013, All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that Brown would be returning to the promotion the following month to take part in the2013 Ōdō Tournament.[21] Brown returned to the promotion on September 11 in a non-tournament tag team match, where he andBambi Killer defeatedBurning (Atsushi Aoki andYoshinobu Kanemaru), with Brown pinning Kanemaru for the win.[22] Three days later, Brown was eliminated by Kanemaru in his first round match in the Ōdō Tournament.[23] For the rest of the tour, which lasted until September 23, Brown workedmidcard tag team matches, suffering pinfall losses in most of them.[24][25][26][27] On October 3, Brown was announced also for All Japan's next tour, which started October 12.[28] Brown continued teaming regularly with Bambi Killer, which eventually led to the two forming a heel stable namedDK (Dark Kingdom) under the leadership ofKenso on November 21.[29][30]
After working for TNA, Brown returned to the independent circuit where he appeared for Pro Wrestling Syndicate on May 18, 2013, withD.O.C. andKnux.[31] On August 3, 2013, Brown and Hankinson lost to theRock N' Roll Express at Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Legends Fanfest. By the end of the year he worked in England and the Netherlands.
On November 22, 2014, Brown would team with former WWE wrestlerBull Buchanan defeating AJ Steele and Brad Lynch at Buchanan's retirement show at UIW in Bowden, Georgia.
He lost toSabu (wrestler) at XICW Bodyslams Childhood Cancer event in Wyandotte, Michigan, on July 29, 2017. On October 27, 2018, he won the vacated HLW Legends Title defeating Dru Skillz in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He dropped the title toTracy Smothers on April 20, 2019.
Brown's last match was on October 7, 2023, for Border City Wrestling in which he along withScott D'Amore andTommy Dreamer defeated the team ofJohnny Swinger, N8 Mattson and Tyler Tirva.[32]
Brown formerly held a weekly class on Friday for "Future Stars of Wrestling" training center in Las Vegas.[10]
On July 3, 2019, Brown announced that he had returned toImpact Wrestling with a multi-year contract as aproducer.[33] Brown and Mr Anderson were scheduled to represent theAces & Eights atTNA: There's No Place Like Home but the event was annulled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[34]
In January 2021, it was announced that Brown would be one half of Impact's new announce team with Matt Striker from Hard to Kill onward. The role ended in early 2022 whenHonor No More attacked him. His role was replaced byMatt Rehwoldt.[35][36]
Brown returned as part of the reunitedAces & Eights, managingGarett Bischoff andWes Brisco, in a losing effort against Honor No More'sKenny King andVincent. The reunion would later be a one-off, as Brown continued to his Talent Relations role backstage and makes occasional appearances thereafter.[37][38][39] On September 6, it was announced that Brown was done with Impact Wrestling.[40]
Connor holds an accounting degree from theUniversity of Maine. He also played for thefootball team while attending university. He worked as aCertified Public Accountant (CPA) before he began his wrestling career.[3][41][5] He and his wife Jennifer were married in 2001 and have two daughters. He has three half siblings on his dad's side. He is a fan of theChicago Bears andLiverpool F.C.
,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database