 Keirn, circa 1978 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stephen Paul Keirn (1951-09-10)September 10, 1951 (age 74) Tampa, Florida, U.S.[1] |
| Parent | Richard P. Keirn (father) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Blackhart[1] Doink the Clown[1] Skinner[1] Steve Keirn[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 215 lb (98 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Tampa, Florida The Everglades (as Skinner)[2] |
| Trained by | Gerald Brisco[1] Jack Brisco[1] Dory Funk Jr.[1] Terry Funk[1] Eddie Graham[1] Hiro Matsuda[1] |
| Debut | 1972[1] |
| Retired | 2007[1] |
Stephen Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in multipleNational Wrestling Allianceterritories asSteve Keirn as one-half of thetag teamThe Fabulous Ones, as well as his appearances with theWorld Wrestling Federation under thering nameSkinner.[1][2]
Keirn graduated fromRobinson High School inPort Tampa. His father,Richard Keirn, was aB-17 pilot who was shot down over Germany in September 1944 and became aPOW. In July 1965, when Stephen was 13, Richard was shot down over Vietnam and again taken prisoner. He was held in theHanoi Hilton for seven and half years. While his father was imprisoned, Steve hung out with his school friendMike Graham whose fatherEddie Graham was a wrestling booker, who was later inducted in theWWE Hall of Fame.
Much of Keirn's early career was spent wrestling as part of atag team. While wrestling inChampionship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), he held theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship twelve times; once each withBob Backlund,Jimmy Garvin, andBrian Blair, and nine times withMike Graham.[3] In addition, the team of Keirn and Graham won theNWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship three times.[4]
In 1980 and 1981, Keirn focused on his career as a singles wrestler. He won many titles in Florida and Georgia, including theNWA World Junior Heavyweight Title by defeatingChavo Guerrero Sr.[5][6] This title reign was recognized byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as the Los Angeles and Florida NWA territories, but not by the NWA as a whole, which considered the title vacant and held a tournament to crown a new champion. The title Keirn held was later renamed the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title.[6] Keirn also won theNWA National Television Championship twice, defeatingTerry Funk andKevin Sullivan.[7]
In 1981, Keirn began wrestling with theTennessee-basedContinental Wrestling Association (CWA). He was successful as a singles wrestler, winning a tournament to claim theAWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.[8] He also held theNWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship on two occasions.[9] As in CWF, Keirn found his greatest success in the tag team division. He held theAWA Southern Tag Team Championship 17 times, including 14 reigns as one half ofThe Fabulous Ones withStan Lane. Keirn and Lane also teamed to win theCWA World Tag Team Championship twice.[10]
The Fabulous Ones competed in various promotions over the next decade. In 1984, the team won theSouthwest Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship while wrestling in Australia.[11] In the United States, they won the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship twice.[4] In 1991, the pair wrestled in theUnited States Wrestling Association, defeatingTony Anthony andDoug Gilbert to win theUSWA Tag Team Championship.[12]
In the summer of 1991, Keirn debuted in the WWF as Skinner, analligatorhunter from theFlorida Everglades.[13] He was portrayed as a generally nasty individual, always chewing ontobacco and sometimes spitting it on his opponent. He carried an alligator claw to the ring with him, which he would often use as a weapon against his opponents. He competed in the1991 King of the Ring tournament, defeatingVirgil in the first round but losing toBret Hart in the second round.[14] While still being billed as undefeated, he challenged Hart for theWWF Intercontinental Championship atThis Tuesday in Texas on December 3, 1991, but lost bysubmission.[15] Skinner competed in the 1992Royal Rumble, lasting 2:13 before being eliminated byRick Martel. AtWrestleMania VIII, he was defeated in one minute and eleven seconds byOwen Hart.[16]
Keirn also unsuccessfully challengedRandy Savage for theWWF Championship on the June 29, episode of Prime Time Wrestling. He also competed in the 1993Royal Rumble, but was eliminated byMr. Perfect at the 3:05 mark. While in the WWF, Keirn also portrayedDoink the Clown on occasion. AtWrestleMania IX, Keirn helped theoriginal Doink defeatCrush by attacking Crush dressed as Doink during the match.[17]
Along withBobby Eaton, Keirn wrestled inWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994 in a tag team known as "Bad Attitude".[14] Despite the tag team success both Keirn and Eaton enjoyed in the past (with The Fabulous Ones and the Midnight Express respectively, with Lane as a common partner), the team made little impact, losingdark matches toBrian andBrad Armstrong atBash at the Beach 1994 andFall Brawl 1994.[18][19] While in WCW, Keirn was also involved in anangle in which masked men attackedHulk Hogan. Several times in October 1994, Keirn wore a black mask to attack Hogan during and after Hogan's matches.[20][21]
After WCW, Keirn worked in theindependent circuit mainly in Florida and Tennessee. He retired in 2001 after a tour forNew Japan Pro Wrestling.
Since the late 1980s, Keirn has run a school to train wrestlers. Originally located inTampa, Florida, Keirn's "Professional Wrestling School of Hard Knocks" is now located inBrandon, Florida.[22] Keirn helped train many wrestlers, includingMike Awesome,Dennis Knight,Diamond Dallas Page,Dustin Rhodes,Tracy Smothers, andRoman Reigns.[22] The school was incorporated into theWWE's developmental territory,Florida Championship Wrestling, which opened on June 26, 2007, and Keirn was named President of FCW[23] and made regular appearances on FCW television.
His last match was on December 10, 2007, at the 15th Anniversary Raw participating in a Battle Royal where he was eliminated from the match bySgt. Slaughter. On August 14, 2012, FCW was discontinued and theWWE Performance Center opened on July 11, 2013.[24]
On March 10, 2023, Keirn's autobiography,The Keirn Chronicles Volume One: The Fabulous Wrestling Life of Steve Keirn, was released.[25] The book is coauthored by Ian Douglass, a contributor to the autobiographies ofDan Severn,Hornswoggle,Bugsy McGraw andBrian Blair, and it includes forewords fromStan Lane andCM Punk, and an afterword fromNatalya Neidhart.[26] The book was a finalist for Best Pro Wrestling Book in the 2023Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.[27]
The second edition of Keirn's memoirs,The Keirn Chronicles Volume Two: The Phenomenal Wrestling Resurgence of Steve Keirn, was released on April 15, 2024.[28] This book was also coauthored by Ian Douglass, and includes a foreword fromDrew McIntyre and an afterword fromTed DiBiase.
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,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database