D'Lo Brown
| Accie C. Connor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 22, 1972 Chicago, Illinois |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ace The Animal D'Lo Brown |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Billed weight | 278 lb (126 kg) |
| Trained by | The Monster Factory Glen Ruth Larry Sharpe Al Snow |
| Debut | 1994 |
Accie C. Connor or A.C. Connor (born October 22, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois), is a professional wrestler and former accountant better known by his stage name of D'Lo Brown.
Career
Connor began his wrestling career in New Jersey as Ace the Animal, competing against other unknowns like Vinny Boombots the Reckless Youth. This led to his first widely known role in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, playing the "head of security" for The Gangstas.
He also wrestled for Heartland Wrestling Association before making his official WWF debut in 1997. He wrestled once under his real name in a match against Earthquake in 1993 as a jobber. He was originally a member of the stable the Nation of Domination. After turning on the first leader of the faction Faarooq, he eventually turned on the new leader of the group, The Rock and allied himself with then face, Mark Henry. His trademark at this time was his chest protector, which he would wear to the ring, supposedly for an injury sustained to his torso in a match against Dan "The Beast" Severn. Instead, he would use the chest protector to his advantage, making his finishing move The 'Lo Down more deadly. He would eventually turn face and formed a tag team with Henry in the 1990s, which was moderately successful. His career peaked when he held the European and Intercontinental Championships simultaneously, a feat duplicated by a select few, including Olympian Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett.
Brown ended the career of Droz when he botched a running powerbomb on the October 7 edition of SmackDown! Drozdov suffered a severe neck injury, leaving him a paraplegic (It has been rumored that the incident was caused by a beverage thrown into the ring by a fan, which was not seen by either wrestler, or the referee. Brown allegedly slipped onto the wet area, resulting in the botched move). Many believe that Brown's status in the WWF never rose above the midcard because of this accident (though this has neither been confirmed nor denied). Brown would then form a tag team in July 2000 with Chaz named "Lo Down." The team mostly wrestled on Sunday Night Heat and WWE Jakked/Metal. Shortly after the team forming, Tiger Ali-Singh joined the fray to become their manager. The tag team would then come dressed towards the ring in Arabic ring attire and took on a gimmick very similar to Tiger's. The team was removed from WWF TV in January 2001. Chaz and Tiger Ali-Singh would later be released by WWE while D'Lo Brown stayed in WWE's developmental territory. D'Lo returned to TV on the April 28, 2002 episode of Heat, losing to Eddie Guerrero. For the rest of the year, D'Lo Brown would mostly wrestle on Heat as well as do a little bit on commentary on the show and even started a brief feud with Raven. In late 2002, Theodore Long would retire as a WWE referee and manage D'Lo after D'Lo complained about acts of racism being portrayed on him during his matches. D'Lo started Theodore Long's group Thuggin' and Buggin' Enterprises which eventually tunred into a group of African-Americans who worked a race angle in which they felt they were victims of racism and were being held down by the white man. Long's managerial services seemed to have proved useful, as D'Lo Brown went undefeated for several weeks. His final WWE match took place on the February 10 episode of RAW against Booker T. On the February 16, 2003 episode of Heat, exclusive footage was shown of Theodore Long kicking D'Lo Brown to the curb for losing his match on RAW to Booker T. Long introduced Rodney Mack. Mack assaulted D'Lo and left him laying as Long and Mack got into a car and drove off. This was the last time D'Lo was ever seen by WWE fans because he was released by WWE on February 14th, 2003 and Rodney Mack went on to re-start Thuggin' and Buggin' Enterprises.
Connor went on to wrestle for All Japan Pro Wrestling, frequently teaming with fellow former WWE employee Bull Buchanan, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling still under the name D'lo Brown.
In April 2005, he was one of the lead trainers of Celebrity Wrestling in the United Kingdom on ITV. This Saturday evening reality show saw celebrities learn wrestling and compete in challenge matches. After a few weeks the programme was to be cancelled, but was instead moved to Sunday mornings to finish its final episodes.
Throughout the rest of 2005 and into 2006, Brown could be found touring Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as working for Irish Whip Wrestling in Ireland. During his time wrestling in England, he would face off in a series of matches against his Celebrity Wrestling opposition's trainer, Joe Legend.
In wrestling
Previous managers
- Terri Runnels
- Tiger Ali Singh
- Theodore Long
- Jacqueline
- Ivory
- Johnny Bradford
Quotes
- "Oh, you better recognize just who the hell I am!"
- "Down with the Brown"
- "Who sucks now?"
- "You Suck!"
- "D'Lo Brown ain't the one to mess with!"
- "I'm the champion of Europe!"
- "Get your ass up!"
- "You lookin' at the real deal now!"
- "I support slavery, as long as it doesn't involve me!"
- "You tell anyone, and I'll kick your ass!" [after he ate a checkers piece]
Finishing and signature moves
- Fire Thunder Driver (Over the shoulder reverse sitout piledriver)
- The 'Lo Down (frog splash)
- Sky High / Fade To Black (Rydeen Bomb)
- Sudden Impact (swinging side slam)
- Shining Impact (shining chest kick)
- Cocky D'Lo Legdrop (points fingers outwards and shakes head followed by a leg drop)
- Running sitout powerbomb
- Texas cloverleaf
- Spinning heel-kick
Trivia
- It's claimed that Connor invented "The 911", a rarely seen move outside of the independent circuit, which is considered too dangerous by most wrestlers. This vertical throw starts as a power bomb but takes the opponent completely overhead in a 450º vertical spin to land face first behind the attacker. First used on Reckless Youth in the early 90s, this move has yet to be adopted by any other wrestler. During the 2006 Royal Rumble, Chavo Guerrero used this move on Rey Mysterio. The move has also been used on Mysterio in another match at WWE Judgment Day 2005 by Eddie Guerrero.
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
- 4-time WWF European Champion
- 1-time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Apolo)
- 1-time IwW International Champion
- 2-time GWA Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time GLW Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time CAPW North American Champion
- 1-time MXPW Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time NEW Heavyweight Champion
- 2-time BCW Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time HWA Tag Team Champion
- 2-time HWA Heavyweight Champion (First-ever)
- 1-time IWA Tag Team Champion
- 1-time USA Pro Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time IWP Heavyweight Champion
- Other Accomplishments
- HWA Heavyweight Title Tournament Winner (1996)
- PWI #361 of the Best Singles Wrestlers of the PWI Years (2003)