| Tony Stetson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Anthony Matteo[1] |
| Born | (1959-03-21)March 21, 1959 (age 65) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Children | 3 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Broad Street Bully Tony Matteo[1] Tony Stetson[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Billed weight | 238 lb (108 kg; 17.0 st) |
| Billed from | South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Trained by | Larry Sharpe[1] |
| Debut | December 9, 1985[1] |
Anthony Matteo (born March 21, 1959) is an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,"Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time inExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s.[1]
Stetson was one of ECW's initial stars, appearing at the company's first event in 1992. He quickly rose to success as a tag team competitor, winning the promotion'sTag Team Championshiptwice while also achieving singles success by winning thePennsylvania Heavyweight Championship during his career. He later joinedRaven's Nest and adopted acharacter calledThe Broad Street Bully.
Matteo grew up on the corner of at South 11th Street and West Ritner Street in South Philadelphia. He attendedSaint John Neumann High School.
Matteo trained as a professional wrestler atLarry Sharpe'sMonster Factory inBurlington County. Stetson would eventually debut in 1985 facing fellow Monster Factory alumniBam Bam Bigelow at aWorld Wrestling Federation television taping at theMid-Hudson Civic Center inPoughkeepsie, New York, on December 9, 1985.[1][2] Matteo originally wrestled as "Tony Matteo", adopting the ring name "Tony Stetson" after overhearingcolor commentatorBruno Sammartino mispronounce his name.[1]
Tony Stetson made a name for himself wrestling in Joel Goodhart'sTri-State Wrestling Alliance as well as other promotions inPennsylvania andNew Jersey from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s. He employed ahardcore wrestling style and was an early contributor to the Philadelphia wrestling scene, including his feud withJohnny Hotbody. Stetson and Hotbody traded wins in a variety of matches, including aTaped Fist First Blood match on March 31, 1990.[3] Several months later, Stetson defeated Hotbody in aHair vs Hair match.[3] On March 2, 1991, the two resumed their feud when Stetson won aBarbed wire match.[3] When Stetson first started in the Business, he had a manager who went by the name of "The Godfather". The Godfather, was later known as "The Equalizer" and then ended his career as "Gianni Corleone" while working with Stetson toward the end of his career in the CWC.
Stetson joined the upstartNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotionEastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1992, where he was one of the company's first stars along withRockin' Rebel,J.T. Smith,Glen Osbourne,The Sandman,Max Thrasher, and Jimmy Jannetty. The company was a successor to Tri-State Wrestling Alliance. Matteo competed as afan favorite at the company's first eventMarket Street Mayhem on February 25, 1992, where he defeatedIvan Koloff.[4] The following month, in March, he lost to Koloff in aRussian deathmatch.[5] He was involved in many high-profilerivalries with the company's top stars throughout the year, making a name for himself during the initial days of ECW. His first success came when he began teaming withLarry Winters on December 19, where the duo lost their match[6] due to interference by theTag Team ChampionsThe Super Destroyers.[7] As a result, Stetson and Winters began feuding with Super Destroyers for the Tag Team Championship, with the former defeating the Super Destroyers to win the tag titles on the May 11, 1993, episode ofNWA Eastern Championship Wrestling.[8][9] Stetson and Winters lost the titles to The Suicide Blondes (Chris Candido andJohnny Hotbody) on the May 25 episode ofEastern Championship Wrestling.[9] On the June 8 episode ofEastern Championship Wrestling, Stetsonturned on Winters during a 16-manbattle royal for the newPennsylvania Heavyweight Championship, thus becoming avillain.[8] Stetson defeated Winters in afirst blood match atSuper Summer Sizzler Spectacular on June 19.[10]
Stetson moved on to singles competition, during which he defeatedTommy Cairo to win the Pennsylvania Heavyweight Championship on the September 14 episode ofEastern Championship Wrestling.[8] Stetson successfully defended the title against Cairo atUltraClash.[11] The title was neither defended nor mentioned on television again, thus being retired with Stetson as the final champion.[12] The following month, Stetson began teaming with Johnny Hotbody when duo were awarded the Tag Team Championship atNWA Bloodfest: Part 1 on October 1, after the title was vacated due toEddie Gilbert andThe Dark Patriot (Eddie's brotherDoug Gilbert) quitting the company.[9] They made successful title defenses againstBadd Company,[13] The Sandman and J.T. Smith[14] andThe Bad Breed[15] beforedropping them to the team ofTommy Dreamer andJohnny Gunn atNovember to Remember.[9][15]
In 1994, Stetson made only one televised appearance on the March 8 episode ofEastern Championship Wrestling, where he teamed with Johnny Hotbody against Bad Breed in a losing effort.[16] He went on a hiatus and returned to therenamed Extreme Championship Wrestling at alive event on September 30, where he waspinned byTommy Dreamer.[17]
In February 1995 atReturn of the Funker, Stetson and histag team partnerJohnny Hotbody joined theRaven's Nestgroup afterRaven made his ECW debut[18] and their tag team was named "The Broad Street Bullies", a reference to thePhiladelphia Flyersice hockey team. AtThree Way Dance on April 8, the Bullies were defeated byThe Pitbulls in a match which stipulated that Bullies would be fired by Raven's Nest should they lose.[18][19] As a result, Stetson reverted to being a fan favorite. He continued to develop his "Broad Street Bully"character as he began wearing ahockey jersey andgloves and carrying ahockey stick to the ring.[18] AtBarbed Wire, Hoodies & Chokeslams, Broad Street Bully defeated The Jersey Devil in aquick match, avenging the Philadelphia Flyers' upset elimination from the1995Stanley Cup by theNew Jersey Devils.[18][20] Matteo reprised the Broad Street Bully character atHardcore Heaven[21] andNovember to Remember,[22] both events took place inPhiladelphia.[18]
Matteo continued to perform as Tony Stetson andfeuded with Raven's Nest following the events of Three Way Dance,[18] once challenging Raven andStevie Richards for theECW World Tag Team Championship alongsideDon E. Allen atHeat Wave, where Matteo's team won by countout, meaning Raven and Richards retained the titles.[23] Stetson competed as a mid-card wrestler for the remainder of the year, suffering losses toHack Myers,[24]Val Puccio,[25]Bull Pain[26] andJT Smith[27] before departing the company in 1996, ending his four year-run with ECW. His last match took place at theHouse Party event, where he teamed with JT Smith againstThe Bad Crew in atag team match, which ended in a no contest.[28]
Going into semi-retirement by the mid-1990s, Stetson worked coordinating supply distribution forMethodist Hospital. In 1999, he joined promoter Lisa Constantino's Central Wrestling Coalition based inSouth Philadelphia. Teaming up with his old Manager Gianni Corleone (also known as "The Godfather" and The Equalizer early in his career), he feuded with Breaker Morant over the CWC Heavyweight Championship during the next two years in the promotion.[2]
Stetson retired in 2002 after accumulating a number of nagging injuries.[1] He returned to wrestling in 2009, facing Breaker Morant at a TWA reunion show. In the same year, he served as a consultant for the production "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" by theInterAct Theatre Company.[1]
Stetson is married with three children.[1] He is anItalian American.[1]
