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Shannon Moore

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Shannon Moore
File:Shannonmoore-tna.jpg
BornJuly 27, 1979
Cameron, North Carolina
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)El Gran Luchadore,
Enigma,
Kid Dynamo,
Prince of Punk,
Shannon Moore
Billed height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Billed weight225 lb (92 kg)
Trained byMatt and Jeff Hardy
DebutApril 8, 1995

Shannon Brian Moore (born July 27, 1979 in Cameron, North Carolina) is an American professional wrestler currently under contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to appear for the SmackDown! brand.

He has also performed both for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in its X Division.

Wrestling career

Moore befriended Matt and Jeff Hardy as a boy, and competed in their backyard wrestling circuit. After the Hardy Boys began wrestling professionally, they trained Moore, and he debuted on April 8, 1995 against Jeff. Moore began working in the independent circuit, wrestling for the North Carolina-based Southern Championship Wrestling and National Championship Wrestling promotions as Kid Dynamo. In addition, he frequently wrestled for OMEGA, the promotion operated by the Hardy Boys. In the late 1990s Moore began wrestling for the Georgia-based Music City Wrestling promotion.

World Championship Wrestling

In 1999, Moore was hired by WCW by Chris Kanyon, who had been granted the authority to employ twenty-one young cruiserweights by the Atlanta, Georgia-based promotion. He was placed in a stable known as 3 Count by Jimmy Hart. 3 Count, which consisted of Moore, Evan Karagias and Shane Helms, was a trio of young male wrestlers who utilised the gimmick of boy band members. 3 Count debuted in WCW in November 1999, and began lip-synching the song "Can't Get You Out Of My Heart" in the ring before their matches.

On the February 28, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 3 Count defeated Brian Knobbs to win the WCW Hardcore Championship by all 3 of the team's members simultaneously pinning him. Doing this, Moore became the youngest Hardcore champion in WCW history, a record he never relinquished. 3 Count reigned as co-champions until March 19, 2000, at Uncensored in Miami, Florida, where Knobbs regained the title by consecutively pinning all three men.

3 Count were not involved in the Millionaires Club versus New Blood angle that took place during the summer of 2000 because Helms was sidelined with a broken nose. The stable reconvened in the late summer of 2000 and began performing a new song, "Dance With 3 Count". Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial artist Tank Abbott became an avid fan of 3 Count, and began protecting them during their performances, attacking anyone who disrupted them. He also acted as their talent manager and occasional back-up dancer.

3 Count began to fall apart in late 2000, with Karagias joining forces with Jamie San, a former member of the Jung Dragons. At StarrCade 2000, Moore and Helms defeated San (renamed Jamie Noble), and Karagias and the remaining Jung Dragons in a three way tag team ladder match. The six men went on to feud with one another in early 2001, with Helms pinning Moore in a cruiserweight elimination match at SuperBrawl Revenge on February 18. Moore and Karagias joined forces once again to take part in a tournament for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships, but were eliminated by Billy Kidman and Rey Misterio, Jr..

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

After WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, Moore signed a contract with them and was assigned to the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), an Ohio-based WWF developmental territory. He teamed with Karagias in HWA until Karagias was released by the WWF. In July 2002, Moore was promoted to the primary WWE roster and assigned to the SmackDown! brand.

Moore competed in the cruiserweight division for several months before becoming an acolyte of Matt Hardy Version 1.0, then proselytizing a philosophy known as "Mattitude". Moore became a "Mattitude Follower" (abbreviated to "MF'er"), and began dressing like Hardy and accompanying him to ringside. Moore would often unsuccessfully attempt to help Hardy win matches, resulting in Hardy attacking Moore in order to vent his frustrations, or would lose to a more physically dominant opponent, with Hardy again assaulting Moore as a result, claiming that he had failed to comprehend Hardy's coaching. Moore also assisted Hardy in his bid to win the 2003 Royal Rumble, again unsuccessfully, and helped Hardy lose several pounds in order to qualify for a WWE Cruiserweight Championship title shot. On February 23, 2003 at No Way Out, Moore distracted Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman, enabling Hardy to pin him and win the title.

On April 24, 2003, Crash also became an MF'er, and was also referred to as being a "Moore-on". The stable was short-lived, as Crash was released from WWE on June 30.

Moore and Hardy continued to work together until November 17, when Hardy left SmackDown! and joined the RAW brand. As a result, Paul Heyman (the SmackDown! general manager) decided to punish Hardy for leaving his show vicariously, by forcing Moore to face a series of much larger opponents. In successsive weeks, Moore was squashed by Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones and The Big Show before unexpectedly defeating A-Train in an upset victory on the December 11, 2003 episode of SmackDown!. The following week, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar was scheduled to defend his title against a random wrestler, with the name of his opponent selected arbitrarily by a lottery machine. Moore was selected as Lesnar's opponent, and Lesnar defeated him with ease, then revealed that all the balls had borne Moore's named, with Lesnar having rigged the process in order to ensure that he would have a much smaller opponent. Immediately after the match, Moore and Hardcore Holly were scheduled to face A-Train and Matt Morgan in a tag team match, with Holly gaining a title shot if he won and being fired if he lost. Despite Moore being incapacitated, he and Holly were able to win the match.

At WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004, Moore took part in a Cruiserweight Open for the Cruiserweight Championship, but was eliminated by Ultimo Dragon. His next high profile appearance was on the July 8, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, which saw Moore wrestle under a mask as "El Gran Luchadore". Moore faced John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in the match for the WWE Championship, and was initially dominated by his much larger opponent. However, a second Luchadore (the disguised Eddie Guerrero) took Moore's place, prompting Layfield to run away, thus giving Moore the victory by count-out.

Moore competed in the cruiserweight division and as a jobber for the remainder of 2004 and the first half of 2005. In early 2005 he adopted the gimmick of "The Prince of Punk", and began wearing punk clothing to the ring. On March 21, 2005 he was concussed and suffered Whiplash after his Hummer was involved in a head-on collision with a vehicle driven by an inebriated United States Army Sergeant in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He quickly recovered from his injuries, but was fired by WWE on July 5, 2005.

Moore returned to the independent circuit soon thereafter, although the no-compete clause in his contract (which prohibits WWE employees who are fired or who negotiate a contract release from appearing on television within a given time period) did not expire until November 1 of that year. He also opened a professional wrestling school known as the "School of Punk".

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Moore debuted in TNA on November 16, 2005, losing to Chris Sabin in a dark match. On the December 17, 2005 episode of TNA iMPACT!, Moore appeared on the stage holding a sign that read "The X Division needs to get Punk'd." Upon joining the roster, he was known as "Prince of Punk", Shannon Moore.

On the January 1, 2006 episode of iMPACT!, Moore attacked A.J. Styles during a match against America's Most Wanted for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, costing Styles and his partner, Christopher Daniels, the titles. On the January 14, 2006 episode of iMPACT!, Moore stole Styles's "Mr. TNA" award, resulting in Styles chasing Moore around the arena until he was restrained by security personnel. On January 21, 2006, Moore won his debut TNA match, defeating Styles in a street fight after Christopher Daniels interfered. Moore went on to compete in the X Division over the next two months.

On March 18, 2006 Shannon Moore would wrestle in what would be his final TNA match against Rhino, Ron Killings, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels. Moore would get pinned by AJ Styles following a Styles Clash.

At the time of Shannon Moore's tenure with TNA, Moore would not be under any contract with the company. Though both parties were negotiating a contract Moore opted to leave the promotion to return to WWE.

World Wrestling Entertainment

On March 14, 2006, journalist Dave Meltzer would be the first to claim that Moore had committed to a verbal agreement with WWE. On March 17, 2006 this would be confirmed when WWE released an interview on their website with Shannon Moore talking about his return to WWE. During the interview Moore's response to the question of what he has been up to during his time away from WWE was as follows:

"Well, I’ve been keeping busy on the independent circuit, and I went over to Japan for a while, which was great for me. I also did some work down south. Plus, I opened a small wrestling school, and I have four students that I’ve been training down here over the last few months."

The "down south" reference is most likely TNA, who operate out of Orlando, Florida. In an ironic twist, due to the fact that TNA iMPACT! is taped on Tuesdays, Moore competed on a TNA show one day after he left the company. However, Shannon Moore's former promotion would also trademark the phrase "Prince Of Punk" for use with Moore, believing that he would sign a contract with them. This seemingly would put Moore's gimmick in jeopardy now that he is with WWE. On http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0601869/ it shows that Shannon will show up at the Saturnights Main Event at Dallas.

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

Managers

Nicknames

Championships and accomplishments

  • Heartland Wrestling Association
  • 2-time HWA Cruiserweight Champion
  • 1-time HWA Tag Team Champion (with Evan Karagias)
  • 1-time NWA Wildside Tag Team Champion (with Shane Helms)
  • 1-time NCW Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time NCW Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-time OMEGA Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-time OMEGA New Frontier Champion
  • 2-time OMEGA Light Heavyweight Champion
  • Southern Championship Wrestling
  • 1-time SCW Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • Other Titles
  • 1-time ACW Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-time NFWA Heavyweight Champion

Personal life

References

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