 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Claude Marrow Jr. (1978-08-15)August 15, 1978 (age 47) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Ruckus[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Billed from | Baltimore,Maryland |
| Trained by | Chad Austin and Bob Starr[1] Brainbusters Wrestling School[1] |
| Debut | February 26, 1999[1] |
Claude Marrow Jr.[1] (born August 15, 1978) is an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,Ruckus. He performs inCombat Zone Wrestling,Ring of Honor,Maryland Championship Wrestling,Chikara andJersey All Pro Wrestling. While often appearing at a number of other independent promotions, Ruckus is a member of theBlackout/BLKOUT stable withEddie Kingston,Sabian,Joker,James Ellsworth, and Robbie Mireno.[3]
Ruckus began training in September 1998 at Brainbusters. A formerbackyard wrestler with Hardcore Championship Wrestling, Ruckus made his professional wrestling debut againstChad Austin on April 18, 1999 for theMid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (MEWF).[1]
Ruckus and The Hurricane Kidd were hired byCombat Zone Wrestling (CZW) when ownerJohn Zandig saw them working for Power House Wrestling and was impressed by their ability.[1] When Ruckus started in CZW he weighed nearly 300 lbs. but has since dropped over 75 pounds.[4]
He began wrestling in CZW around 2001 and became known for doing high flying moves, such as the 450 Splash, that are not normally done by people of his size. He won his first title, theCZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship, on December 2, 2001, but only held it briefly,dropping the title atCage of Death III toTrent Acid.[5][6] He regained this title on January 18, 2003 atLive Again.[5][7] During his second reign, Ruckus began teaming withSonjay Dutt.[8] They wrestled many matches as a team, but Ruckus became jealous of Sonjay and turned on him atNight of Infamy 2. This led to a match atCage of Death V which Sonjay won to become the new Junior Heavyweight Champion.[5][9]
In the early 2000s, as a member of the stable CZW Warriors (CZW Army), Ruckus toured all over Japan, includingKanagawa,Tokyo,Hokkaido,Ibaraki,Miyagi,Yamagata,Shizuoka, with the promotionBig Japan Pro Wrestling, facing several wrestlers includingTrent Acid, The Winger, Fantastic,Ryuji Ito,John Zandig,Shadow WX, Daikokubo Benkei,Abdullah Kobayashi,Van Hammer,Hideki Hosaka, Kamikaze, Shunma Matsuzaki,Naoki Numazawa,Nick Gage, teaming on several occasions withWifebeater,Madman Pondo,Jun Kasai,Justice Pain, BADBOY Hido, Fantastic,Ryuji Ito,[10] and won theBJW Junior Heavyweight Championship in December 2001 inYokohama.[11]
In 2004, Ruckus and Robbie Mireno formed a stable calledThe Blackout (The BLKOUT). The stable also featuredSabian andJoker and they feuded withChri$ Ca$h.Eddie Kingston would later join them. On June 12, 2004, Ruckus and Sabian won theCZW World Tag Team Championship fromNick Gage and Nate Hatred atTrifecta Elimination 2.[5][12] Ruckus competed in the Cage of Death match atCage of Death VI against Team Ca$h. Not only was Ruckus eliminated, but his team also lost the CZW Tag Team Title.[5][13]
On February 5, 2005, atOnly The Strong, Ruckus defeatedMessiah for theCZW World Heavyweight Championship.[5][14] He held the title for quite some time, defending it against wrestlers such as Sonjay Dutt,B-Boy,SeXXXy Eddy, andBeef Wellington.[15][16][17] Later in 2005, Ruckus and the rest of the BLKOUT began a feud withThe Kings of Wrestling andSuper Dragon. AtNight of Infamy 4, Ruckus successfully defended the title againstClaudio Castagnoli.[18] At the next show,Cage of Death 7, Ruckus lost the title to Super Dragon.[5][19]
Ruckus, Sabian, and Kingston won a six-man tag match against the Kings and Super Dragon atAn Afternoon of Main Events on January 14, 2006.[20] At CZW's next show, Ruckus regained the World Championship, with his allies Joker and Eddie Kingston bringing home the tag team title.[5][21] On May 13, 2006, Ruckus won theBest of the Best tournament by defeating Sabian, Claudio Castagnoli, andAustin Aries in the final match. After Ruckus won the tournament,Chris Hero came out demanded a title shot and defeated Ruckus for the championship.[22] In August 2006, Kingston was kicked out of the BLKOUT and his half of the title was given to Ruckus, making Ruckus and Joker the new champions. Once Joker left CZW, however, the BLKOUT was stripped of the title. The same night they were stripped, Ruckus and the debutingRicky Reyes helped Eddie Kingston win the World Championship and welcomed him back into the fold.[5]
At theBest of the Best tournament on July 14, 2007, Ruckus beat reigning CZW champion Justice Pain for the CZW World Heavyweight Title in a surprise non-tournament match. Later that night, the now three-time CZW Heavyweight Champion, Ruckus, joined his tag partner Sabian in ring to award their BLKOUT enforcer,Joker, the Best of the Best trophy he won by defeating B-Boy in the evening's final match.[5][23]
On December 8, 2007, at CZWCage of Death IX, Ruckus lost the CZW World Heavyweight Title to the returningNick Gage in a Triple Threat match also featuring the returning Messiah.[24]
AtManhattan Mayhem II on August 25, 2007, Ruckus made hisRing of Honor debut, coming in as the first member ofJack Evans'sfaction "The Vulture Squad", and defeatedEddie Edwards.[25] On July 26, 2008, Ruckus won the first ever 15 man Honor Rumble to earn a title shot vsNigel McGuinness in Manassas, VA on August 1, a match which McGuinness ultimately won to retain his title.[26][27]
Since his debut, Ruckus has also spread his talents to numerous countries including England, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Italy and Germany, as well as making appearances in a variety of feds along the east coast and inland. In 2006, Ruckus made his debut for other northeast feds, such asChikara andJersey All Pro Wrestling.[28] He is still very much involved with the BLK OUT in CZW, where they recently engaged in a war over the CZW Tag Team Title with NWA-Anarchy'sKory "Rainman" Chavis and Onyx, who claimed they were the original Blackout.[5]
In 2006, Ruckus taped episodes ofMTV'sWrestling Society X, forming a team withBabi Slymm known as "Keepin' It Gangsta".[2]
On September 6, 2008 Ruckus would make his debut for Insanity Pro Wrestling at the8th Annual Super Junior Heavyweight Tournament. Ruckus would win the first round defeating Jayson Quick but would lose in the second round in a triple threat match also involving Shiima Xion and Aaron Williams.[29]
TheMaryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title was awarded to both Ruckus and Sabian on April 21, 2007 when they defeated MCW champions Phat Blues Inc. (Kelly Bell and Buzz Stryker) and The Best of Both Worlds (Doyle Day and Buck Chyld).[1] On May 19, 2007, Ruckus beatChristopher Daniels for the German Wrestling Promotion's World Heavyweight Championship belt in Germany.[30] On Saturday February 21, 2009, he won the Maryland Championship Heavyweight title fromChristian York in a cage match. He lost the title on April 25, 2014.
He appeared in the video gameBackyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood.