Jon Heidenreich

Photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Real name: Jon Heidenreich
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 300 lbs.
Date of birth: June 28, 1972
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Pro debut: 2001
Trained by: UPW
Finishing move: Electric Chair

Biography

– Heidenreich initially aimed for a career in pro football, but was cut from three separate NFL training rosters between 1992 and 1994 and would go on to play in the CFL, AFL and NFL Europa before turning to wrestling in 2000
– Heidenreich trained at UPW and would debut for the company on March 14, 2001, teaming with Nathan Jones in a loss to The Ballard Brothers
– Heidenreich signed a WWF development deal in the summer of 2001 and was assigned to OVW, where he competed as ‘Big Bad John’
– Heidenreich was released from his WWE deal in the spring of 2002 and would travel to Japan to compete for Zero1
– On October 20, 2002, Heidenreich & Nathan Jones defeated Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka to win the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles
– On October 25, Heidenreich & Jones defeated Jimmy Snuka Jr & The Predator to retain the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Titles
– Heidenreich was re-hired by WWE in early 2003, though spent much of the year seeing out his Zero1 commitments
– Heidenreich debuted on Raw on the September 29, 2003 episode
– Heidenreich was sent back to OVW in mid-2004 for further training
– Heidenreich returned to television on the August 26, 2004 episode of Smackdown
– On the September 16 Smackdown, Heidenreich infamously attacked Michael Cole and forcibly read poetry to him backstage
– In July 2005, Heidenreich linked up with Road Warrior Animal
– At The 2005 Great American Bash, Heidenreich & Animal defeated MNM (Mercury & Nitro) to win the WWE Tag Team Titles
– On the following episode of Smackdown, Heidenreich & Animal defeated Chris Hamrick & Chuck Sealey to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– On the August 2 Smackdown, Heidenreich & Animal defeated Josh Daniels & Damian Adams to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– A week later, Heidenreich & Animal defeated Scotty Sabre & Jason Static to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– In mid-August, Heidenreich became an ‘official’ member of The Legion Of Doom at the behest of Animal
– On the September 27 Smackdown, The Legion Of Doom defeated Eddie Guerrero & Batista by DQ to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles. It says a lot about the state of WWE tag team wrestling at the time, that this was the first occasion since winning the belts two months ago that they had been defended against contracted WWE talents, rather than local enhancement talents
– At No Mercy 2005, The Legion Of Doom & Christy Hemme defeated MNM (Mercury, Nitro & Melina)
– On the October 18 episode of Velocity, The Legion Of Doom defeated William Regal & Paul Burchill by DQ to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– In January 2006, WWE released Heidenreich.
– Heidenreich defeated Abbad on October 28, 2006 to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship.
– On March 16, 2008, Heidenreich defeated Sean Brennan & Shaka to win the NLW Heavyweight Title, and would defend it against both men, as well as Joey Cabray and Paul Tracey over the next few days
– Heidenreich left the wrestling business in 2009, but would come out of retirement in 2016
– On November 12, 2017, Heidenreich defeated Louis G Rich to win the 302 Heavyweight Title, but would vacate the belt and return to retirement immediately after the match