Tank Toland

Photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Real name: John Tolland
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 220 lbs.
Date of birth: August 31, 1978
Hometown: Margate, NJ
Pro debut: March 2001
Trained at: Monster Factory/OVW
Finishing move: Tank Territ

Biography

– Tolland began his career on the New Jersey indies as ‘Tank Toland’, working primarily for PCW
– In May 2003, Toland moved to OVW for further training
– On June 27, 2003, Adrenaline (Toland & Chris Cage) defeated Lance Cade & Mark Jindrak to win the vacant OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On July 25, Adrenaline defeated The Disciples Of Synn (Travis Bane & Seven) to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On July 30, Adrenaline again defeated The Disciples Of Synn to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– In November 2003, Toland signed a WWE developmental contract and would continue working in OVW
– On March 3, 2004, Adrenaline (Toland & Chris Cage) defeated The Jersey Shore Crew (Nova & The Idol) to regain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles, but lost them to The Troubleshooters (Chris Masters & Brent Albright) in their first defense
– On September 8, Adrenaline defeated Seth Skyfire & Mac Johnson, The Jersey Shore Crew (Danny Inferno & The Idol) and The Troubleshooters (Chris Masters & Brent Albright) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles for a third time, however, the titles were vacated the day after the match due to a controversial finish
– On April 6, 2005, The Blonde Bombers (Tank & Chad Toland) defeated The Thrillseekers (Johnny Jeter & Matt Cappotelli) to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On June 8, The Blonde Bombers defeated Danny Inferno & Chris Cage and Kenzo Suzuki & Gangrel in an Elimination Match to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On July 13, The Blonde Bombers defeated Chris Cage & Seth Skyfire to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On a Raw brand house show on July 16, The Blonde Bombers (renamed to The Tolands for this night only) defeated Johnny Jeter & Matt Cappotelli to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On July 20, The Blonde Bombers defeated Deuce Shade & Da Beast to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On July 29, The Blonde Bombers defeated Paul Burchill & Seth Skyfire to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– On September 7, The Blonde Bombers defeated The Heart Throbs (Romeo & Antonio) to retain the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles
– In October 2005, The Blonde Bombers were called up to the Smackdown brand and repackaged as ‘The Dicks’, a chippendales-esque gimmick
– In their first match on the brand, on November 25, The Dicks defeated The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal & Heidenreich)
– Both members of The Dicks were released from their WWE deals in February 2006, and both would return to OVW
– In May 2006, Tolland became the lead trainer for OVW’s beginner class
– Tolland (back under his Tank Toland gimmick) debuted for ROH on October 27, 2006, working a Four Corners Survival Match
– Toland won the 2007 EWF X8 Tournament, defeating fellow WWE alum Brent Albright in the final and future WWE star Tyler ‘Seth Rollins’ Black in the semis
– In 2009, Tolland returned to his prior career as a physical education teacher, and would wrestle only sporadically that year, before walking away from the business in 2010