| Tank Toland | |
|---|---|
 Toland in 2003 holding anOVW Southern Tag Team Championship title belt | |
| Birth name | John Michael Toland |
| Born | (1973-08-31)August 31, 1973 (age 51) Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | James Dick Tank Toland |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Billed from | Margate City, New Jersey |
| Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling Larry Sharpe and Bill Granatt |
| Debut | 2000 |
| Retired | 2008 |
John Joseph Toland (born August 31, 1980) is an American formerprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,Tank Toland. Toland is best known for his appearances on theindependent circuit withpromotions such asRing of Honor, Ohio Valley Wrestling as well as his appearances withWorld Wrestling Entertainment on itsSmackDown! brand in 2005 to 2006 asJames Dick.
Toland was trained atMonster Factory and made his debut in 2000.
Toland wrestled inWorld Wrestling Entertainment's developmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling starting in May 2003, teaming withChris Cage. Thebabyface duo won the Tag title three times. During 2005 Toland turnedheel and began to team with Chad Wicks, who posed as his cousin,Chad Toland they wrestled as theBlond Bombers and on April 12, 2005, the team won theOVW Southern Tag Team Title from the Thrillseekers (Matt Cappotelli andJohnny Jeter). Toland also went on to hold theOVW Heavyweight Title which he won from his former partner Chris Cage on December 1, 2004. He held it until he had to surrender it due to his first torn biceps that required surgery. While in OVW Toland was voted by the fans to be both the most popular babyface as well as most popular heel, which made him one of the major draws for the company.
Toland made his debut as a heel onSmackDown! as James Dick along with his partner, Chad Toland who was now using the name Chad Dick on October 14, 2005, as The Dicks.[1] Their gimmick was dressing up likechippendales and using body oil (which was really water) to spray in their baby-face opponents eyes. AfterThe Mexicools won their 8-man tag match with their partnersRoad Warrior Animal andHeidenreich by defeatingPaul Burchill andWilliam Regal andMNM, The Mexicools were ambushed by the Dicks, and in the process they threw the then currentWWE Cruiserweight Champion,Juventud out of the ring and laid outSuper Crazy andPsicosis using two of their signature tag teamfinishers.
On the October 28 episode ofSmackDown!, The Dicks appeared once again, helping MNM capture theWWE Tag Team Championship when they attacked Heidenreich before Paul Burchill was about to receive theDoomsday Device finisher. This began a brawl with all the teams as the Dicks began attacking Road Warrior Animal. This allowed MNM to hit theSnapshot on Heidenreich and win the titles.
On the November 5 episode ofVelocity, The Dicks made their in-ring debut in WWE defeatingjobbers James Prentice and Kevin Antonio. On the November 25 episode ofSmackDown!, The Dicks made their official SmackDown! debuts, defeating Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal after blinding Road Warrior Animal with body oil.
On February 22, 2006, however, The Dicks were released from their WWE contracts. Their last match in WWE was onSmackDown! which was broadcast on February 24, 2006, where The Dicks were defeated byThe Boogeyman.[1] Both men returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where Toland and Wicks began anangle together.
In May 2006, while still wrestling for OVW, ROH and other promotions, Toland became the head instructor for OVW/WWE's developmental amateur class. He was responsible for training new students as well as WWE contracted wrestlers that were new to the wrestling business.
In late 2006, Toland began wrestling for thePhiladelphia based promotionRing of Honor, being called "The All Natural Superior Athlete" Tank Toland. He made his debut atSuffocation on October 17, competing in aFour Corners Survival match againstRoderick Strong,Chris Hero andMark Briscoe. Toland wrestled several shows for ROH in 2006, his final being atThe Chicago Spectacular: Night Two, before taking time off from the company due to a torn biceps that required surgery.
At theFifth Year Festival: Dayton on February 23, 2007, Toland returned to ROH after being hired byLarry Sweeney as the new personal trainer to his client, Chris Hero. In his return match, he defeatedMitch Franklin, a student from theROH Wrestling School. He was a member of Sweeney's Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. faction. On June 27, 2008, he made his return to the faction, teaming with Shane Hagadorn.
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Toland grew up on the beaches ofMargate City, New Jersey where he is a Lieutenantlifeguard on the Beach Patrol. He attendedAtlantic City High School where he was a captain of both his football and baseball teams. He was also active in both school programs and community charity work. Toland continues to stay active within the community and the support of various charities.
Along with being a professional wrestler, Toland holds multiple degrees in Exercise Physiology, Kinesiology, Teaching Health and Physical Education and has a minor in Psychology fromWest Chester University. Toland was a successful teacher of health and physical education before making the transition to professional wrestling. He is now back to pursuing his teaching career, working full-time as a physical education teacher at Atlantic City High School while still wrestling.
,Internet Wrestling Database