 Skipper in 2005 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1967-12-15)December 15, 1967 (age 57)[2][1] Roosevelt, New York, U.S.[1] |
| Children | 4 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Dark Guerrera[1] Elix Skipper[1] Extreme Blade[1] Prime Time[1] Skip Over[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 222 lb (101 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | WCW Power Plant[1] |
| Debut | 1998 |
| Retired | 2009 |
Elix Skipper (born December 15, 1967) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances withWorld Championship Wrestling, where he was aone-timeWCW Cruiserweight Champion and a one-timeWCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion, and withNWA Total Nonstop Action, where he was afour-timeNWA World Tag Team Champion.
Skipper was born on December 15, 1967, in Roosevelt, New York. Before becoming a wrestler, Skipper participated inkickboxing.[1] Upon deciding to become a wrestler, he resigned from his job as a store manager of McDonald's on Long Island and traveled toAtlanta,Georgia to audition at theWCW Power Plant, theprofessional wrestling school operated byWorld Championship Wrestling.[3]
Upon being accepted by the Power Plant, Skipper began his training, debuting in 1999 at anindependent show. After training for eight months, Skipper made his television debut on an episode ofSaturday Night. Seven months later, Skipper began wrestling onWCW Thunder andWCW Monday Nitro under thering name "Skip Over", facing members of thecruiserweight division and fellow Power Plant graduates.
In August 2000, Skipper began performing under his real name while also adopting the nickname "Primetime". After interfering on behalf ofLance Storm in a bout between Storm andMike Awesome on the August 14, 2000 episode ofNitro, Skipper was inducted into Storm's newly formedTeam Canadafaction. At the time Skipper joined Team Canada Storm was in possession of three of WCW's singles titles (theUnited States,Cruiserweight, andHardcore titles) and had given them more Canadian-sounding names. As a reward for his actions Storm presented Skipper with the Cruiserweight Championship, which he had renamed the "101 Kilos and Under Title". Despite his American nationality and his self-professed lack of knowledge about Canada, Skipper was billed as being a Canadian and a formerCanadian Football League player, complete with aGrey Cup ring. Skipper retained the 101 Kilograms and Under Championship until October 2, 2000, whenMike Sanders defeated him for the title and subsequently renamed it back to the Cruiserweight Championship. Throughout late 2000, Team Canada feuded with theMisfits In Action and theFilthy Animals.[4]
In early 2001, Skipper left Team Canada and began competing principally in the cruiserweight division. Throughout February and March 2001, Skipper teamed withKid Romeo in an eight-team tournament to determine the first holders of the newly createdWCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship. Skipper and Romeo won the tournament by defeatingBilly Kidman andRey Mysterio in the tournament finals on March 18, 2001, atGreed, the final WCWpay-per-view event. On the March 26, 2001 episode ofNitro, Skipper and Romeo lost the Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship to Kidman and Mysterio.
In late March 2001, World Championship Wrestling was purchased by theWorld Wrestling Federation, with a number of wrestlers, including Skipper, being signed to developmental contracts.
Skipper made his debut early into theInvasion as a member ofThe Alliance. The WWF later assigned Skipper to the Heartland Wrestling Association, a WWF developmental territory. He trained in the HWA for nine months before being released in December 2001.[4][5]
Upon being released from the WWF, Skipper contactedThe Great Muta, a veteran Japanese wrestler who had previously invited Skipper to wrestle in Japan. Skipper subsequently travelled to Japan to perform forAll Japan Pro Wrestling, where he wrestled while alternating between using his real name, the ring name "Dark Guerrera" and as themasked "Extreme Blade".[4]
Skipper joinedNWA Total Nonstop Action upon its formation in June 2002, debuting under his real name on the third weekly TNA pay-per-view. Skipper competed in theX Division throughout 2002, at the same time continuing to wrestle in Japan. On the December 18, 2002 TNA pay-per-view, Skipper formed a three-man tag team known asTriple X withLow Ki andChristopher Daniels. On the same evening, Triple X joinedSports Entertainment Xtreme, a largevillainous faction headed byVince Russo.
Throughout the first half of 2003, Triple X feuded withAmerica's Most Wanted (Chris Harris andJames Storm), winning theNWA World Tag Team Championship on three occasions. In the course of their reigns, all three members of Triple X were recognised as champions and any two members of the team were eligible to defend the titles, similar to TheFabulous Freebirds. Triple X disbanded in mid-2003 when Low Ki left TNA to wrestle in Japan, and on June 25, 2003, America's Most Wanted defeated Skipper and Daniels in the first TNAsteel cage match to conclude their feud.
Skipper left TNA in July 2003 as a result of a pay dispute, and performed in Japan until December 2003 when TNA offered him a new and more lucrative contract. Upon returning to TNA, Skipper took part in theAmerica's X Cup Tournament and theWorld X Cup Tournament as a member ofTeam USA. Team USA won the World X Cup, but were defeated in the finals of the America's X Cup byTeam Mexico.[6]
In July 2004, Skipper and Daniels reformed Triple X and began feuding with America's Most Wanted once more. In the course of the feud, Skipper and Chris Harris were paired together against NWA World Tag Team ChampionsThe Naturals after their respective partners became unavailable. Despite struggling to cooperate with one another, Skipper and Harris defeated The Naturals. They held the titles for several weeks before losing them to Christopher Daniels and James Storm. After Daniels and Storm lost the titles toTeam Canada, the feud between Triple X and America's Most Wanted resumed. America's Most Wanted went on to defeat Triple X in a last team standing match on November 7, 2004, atVictory Road, with Skipper suffering aconcussion in the course of the match. The feud culminated in a steel cage match on December 5, 2004, atTurning Point, with the stipulation that the losing team be forced to disband. America's Most Wanted won the match.[6]
After separating, Skipper and Daniels began feuding with one another, with Skipper unsuccessfully challenging Daniels for theTNA X Division Championship atLockdown on April 24, 2005. Skipper went on to compete in the X Division until joiningSimon Diamond's "Diamonds in the Rough" faction in August 2005, forming a tag team withDavid Young. The Diamonds in the Rough competed in the tag team division throughout 2005. In December 2005, the Diamonds in the Rough exchanged heated words withMajor League BaseballcatcherA. J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski gained his revenge on the Diamonds in the Rough by costing them a six-man tag team match atTurning Point on December 11, 2005.
The Diamonds in the Rough competed in the TNA tag team division throughout 2006, but received few high-profile matches. In February 2007, both Skipper and Young left TNA after requesting their releases.[7]
On July 15, 2007, atVictory Road, Skipper returned to TNA, competing in anUltimate X match and reforming Triple X with Daniels and Senshi (the former Low Ki). On the July 19 episode ofImpact!, Triple X won its return match againstSerotonin. On the followingImpact!, Daniels and Senshi won a match againstJay Lethal andSonjay Dutt with some outside interference from Skipper. Triple X would go on to lose to TheLatin American Xchange duringBound For Glory in an Ultimate X Match.
After Christopher Daniels was,in storyline, fired because of his briefcase from the "feast or fired" match containing apink slip, Skipper reunited with Senshi. However, the tag team was short-lived, as Senshi requested and was granted his release in January. Following Senshi's departure, Skipper appeared sporadically before wrestling his last televised match in April, which he lost. He was released from his contract in May 2008.
He has four children from two previous marriages (two daughters and two sons). His 22-year-old son, Lemarcus Skipper, was killed on April 29, 2009, by a gunman who was in his home.[3][6][8]
1After Siaki signed a contract withWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Skipper chose Young as a replacement without interrupting the championship reign.
2Skipper defended the title with either Ki or Daniels asTriple X under theFreebird Rule.
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