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==In wrestling==
==In wrestling==
*'''Finishing and signature moves'''
*'''Finishing and signature moves'''
:*'''[[Shooting star press]]''' ([[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]])<ref name="OWOW"/> / '''''Seven Year Itch''''' ([[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]])
:*'''''Seven Year Itch''''' ([[Shooting star press]])<ref name="OWOW"/>
:*'''''B.K. Bomb''''' ([[Powerbomb#Rydeen bomb|Standing sitout spinebuster]], sometimes from the [[Professional wrestling aerial attacks#Super|second or top rope]])
:*'''''B.K. Bomb''''' ([[Powerbomb#Rydeen bomb|Standing sitout spinebuster]], sometimes from the [[Professional wrestling aerial attacks#Super|second or top rope]])
:*'''''Kidman Krusher''''' ([[Facebuster#Inverted double underhook facebuster|Jumping inverted double underhook facebuster]])
:*'''''Kidman Krusher''''' ([[Facebuster#Inverted double underhook facebuster|Jumping inverted double underhook facebuster]])

Revision as of 01:09, 10 March 2008

Peter Gruner
File:Billykidman.jpg
Born (1974-05-11) May 11, 1974 (age 50)[1]
Allentown, Pennsylvania[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kid Flash[3]
Kidman[1]
Billy Kidman[3]
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[2]
Billed weight195 lb (88 kg)[2]
Billed fromAllentown, Pennsylvania[2]
Trained byAfa Anoai[2]
DebutSeptember 11 1994[1][3]

Peter Jacob Gruner (born May 11, 1974)[1] better known by his ring name Billy Kidman (or simply Kidman), is an American professional wrestler. Kidman is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Career

Gruner grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region, where he graduated from Parkland High School.

He joined the WCW and ultimately gained fame as a key member of several strong wrestling factions. In addition to being a member of Raven's Flock,[2] he also was a member of the Filthy Animals and later New Blood.[2] As a member of these factions, Gruner participated in memorable rivalries with top WCW names, including Hulk Hogan, Jeff Jarrett, Rey Mysterio, and others.[2]

World Championship Wrestling

Kidman wrestled for WCW for many years and won tag team gold with partner and real life friend Rey Mysterio. Kidman gained popularity in memorable matches with Raven's Flock, where he adopted a subtle gimmick of a heroin addict, constantly scratching his arms. Following his leaving the group, he gained the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship 3 times.

Kidman first started wrestling for WCW in late 1996. He spent over a year as a cruiserweight jobber with no gimmick. Finally, he was added to Raven's Flock as a heroin addict. He found little success with the group and aided Perry Saturn in defeating Raven in a match where all Flock members may disband from the group. The very next night Kidman came to the ring in a clean attire as a babyface. He defeated Juventud Guerrera that night to win his first WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Juvi won the belt back a few weeks later, and Kidman defeated Juvi a final time at WCW World War 3 to win his second Cruiserweight Title. Kidman went on to hold the title for several months, becoming the record holder at the time, and still holds one of the longest reigns. In this time he became a huge fan favorite and was considered the top star of the WCW Cruiserweight division at the time. He eventually lost the title on an espisode of Nitro to Rey Mysterio in what many consider to be the best match of his career. They had a rematch at Spring Stampede where Mysterio was victorious.

Following this, Rey asked Kidman to be his tag tam partner in a match for the WCW Tag Team Championship. Kidman at first denied as a previous attempt at a tag team between the two did not reach any level of success. However, the two faced Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko for the titles and succeeded with unwanted aid from Raven and Saturn. The three teams feuded for the coming weeks, which ended in a three way tag team match for the titles. Chris Kanyon's interfearance led to the victory for Raven and Saturn. Kidman and Mysterio continued to team together throughout the remainder of WCW, but only sparingly. Kidman spent the next several months in assorted feuds, winning the WCW Cruiserweight Championship one more time from Prince Iaukea at a house show. Prince reclaimed the title the next night on Nitro. Kidman also defeated Psicosis in a hair vs. mask match, and came close to defeating Jeff Jarrett for the United States Championship. He then entered a short feud with Vampiro.

During this time, Kidman was a part of the WCW face faction, the Filthy Animals, with Rey Mysterio, Konnan, and Eddie Guerrero. Eddie left the group when he left WCW, and Kidman left the group when they became a heel faction. He later rejoined them when they were faces once more in the last few months of WCW.

Following his first departure from the Filthy Animals, Kidman joined Vince Russo's New Blood faction, taking another heel turn. His gimmick was a young hotshot not wanting to be held back by superstars beyond their prime. This led to his biggest feud to date with Hulk Hogan. The two had a two month feud that was considered to be severely mishandled and hurt Kidman's career more than it helped it. After the New Blood split up, Kidman became a face once more entering a feud with Shane Douglas for the affection of his on-screen girlfriend, Torrie Wilson. Torrie turned on Kidman, and the feud ended with Kidman victorious.

Following the Shane Douglas feud, Kidman began teaming with Mysterio again, and they entered the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship tournament. They lost in the finals to Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo, but won the titles from them on the final episode of Nitro. That night WWE purchased WCW, the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles were retired, and Kidman's contract was picked up by WWE.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

When the WWF purchased WCW, the contract of Gruner (who was still wrestling as Billy Kidman) was one of twenty-five contracts involved in the purchase. When The Invasion storyline commenced, Gruner appeared on WWF television as a tweener for the WCW Alliance faction. In July 2001, Gruner won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship from Gregory Helms in the first televised WCW match on SmackDown!.[2][4] Kidman was sidelined with an injury during the Invasion angle and thus did not have as big of an impact as other WCW superstars.

Kidman turned face after the WCW/ECW Alliance broke up. He was drafted to SmackDown! as part of the brand extension, and in his return match he defeated Tajiri to win his first WWE Cruiserweight Championship.[5] Tajiri reclaimed the title at Backlash. He went on to capture the Cruiserweight Championship for the seventh time (making him the record holder for most Cruiserweight Titles at the time), by defeating Jamie Noble at Survivor Series.[6] Kidman lost the title three months later to Matt Hardy at No Way Out. He spent the next few years as a star attraction in the cruiserweight division, relying solely on his in-ring work and no real gimmick. Later, Kidman was placed with a new tag team partner, Paul London. The team went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz on July 8 2004.[7] Proving the win not to be an upset, they went on to win a rematch for the titles.

The championship run of this face team came to an abrupt end after Kidman turned his back on London. The heel turn came off the back of a legitimate injury on an August 24 2004 taping of SmackDown!, when Kidman's Shooting Star Press unintentionally caused Chavo Guerrero to suffer a concussion and be taken to the hospital. Kidman was on the top rope ready to hit the Shooting Star Press, but hesitated, climbed down the turnbuckles, and slowly walked backstage overwhelmed with guilt after injuring Chavo. London was left alone to defend the titles against Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree, and was brutally defeated. London and Kidman fought at No Mercy 2004, where Kidman injured London with a shooting star press, while London was strapped to a stretcher. This completed Kidman's heel turn, blaming the fans for wanting him to be more brutal with his in-ring style. Kidman and Chavo ended their feud upon Chavo's return, the latter being victorious in the final match. Kidman then competed against London over the Cruisweight title in the coming months.

Gruner was released from his WWE contract on July 7 2005. It was rumored that the reason behind his release was the lack of crowd reaction and unintentional injuries he caused, but Gruner later stated in an interview with the UK newspaper The Sun that it was because he argued with management over their decision to stop booking wrestlers on first class flights overseas.[8] Recently he has made regular appearances in WWE official territory Florida Championship Wrestling but as of yet has not rejoined WWE.

Post-WWE career

During this first tour of the UK since leaving WWE, Kidman would make a few appearances in independent British promotions. Other than his notable Frontier Wrestling Alliance 3-way match with Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm, Kidman would also wrestle British wrestling legend Robbie Brookside in a losing effort during a British rules match to determine the first Real Quality Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.

In 2007, Gruner was at IWA, in a match for the IWA World Heavyweight Championship against Ray Gonzalez[1]. Gruner also took part in the East Coast Australian "International Assault II" Tour from June 1 - June 3 2007 wrestling Australian superstars TNT and Mark Hilton, and pinned Bryan Danielson to win the WSW World Heavyweight Championship on the 3rd night in Newcastle.

On July 8, 2007, Kidman teamed up with Sean "X-Pac" Waltman as part of a triple threat match in McAllen, Texas to crown the new NWA World Tag Team Champions. The title was previously vacated by Team 3D after TNA Wrestling officially pulled out of the National Wrestling Alliance. They would lose the match to Karl Anderson and Joey Ryan. He has since signed with the Australasian Wrestling Federation.

On September 15th, Kidman appeared at WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling losing to Florida Championship Wrestling Champion Harry Smith. Since then he has been a regular in Florida Championship Wrestling and has now become a trainer.

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

Championships and accomplishments

  • Revolution Xtreme Wrestling
  • RXW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Trans-World Wrestling Federation
  • TWWF Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)[1]
  • World Series Wrestling
    • WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
  • PWI ranked him # 313 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

Personal life

Gruner was previously married to WWE Diva Torrie Wilson, but the two are now divorced.[11] Gruner was a banker before he started training to be a professional wrestler, and is good friends with Glen Gilberti, Chris Kanyon, Diamond Dallas Page, and Rey Mysterio.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Billy Kidman Profile". Bodyslamming.com. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Kidman's WWE Alumni Profile". WWE. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Billy Kidman Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  4. ^ "History Of The Cruiserweight Championship - Bill Kidman(4)". WWE. 2001-07-05. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  5. ^ "History Of the Cruiserweight Championship - Bill Kidman (6)". WWE. 2002-04-04. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  6. ^ "History Of The Cruiserweight Championship - Billy Kidman(7)". WWE. 2002-11-17. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  7. ^ "History Of The WWE Tag Team Championship - Billy Kidman & Paul London". WWE. 2004-07-08. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  8. ^ Simon Rothstein. "The Sun Online - Wrestling: Kidman: Why I Was Fired". Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  9. ^ "ECWA Hall Of Fame Inductees - Wrestlers". ECWAProWrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 2004 Billy Kidman
  10. ^ a b c d e "BILLY KIDMAN'S TITLE HISTORY". WWE. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  11. ^ He is going through a rough time now with his divorce from Torrie Wilson. Kidman went into more details of his current relationship with Torrie saying they still talk and that Torrie’s travel was one of the problems that led to the split. While a divorce is in the works it has not yet been finalized.
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