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Canadian professional wrestler From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steven Eugene Corino[1] (born May 29, 1973[1]) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler signed with WWE as a trainer at the Performance Center and a producer for the promotion's developmental brand NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1998 to 2001 and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2006 and 2009–2016.
| Steve Corino | |
|---|---|
Corino in 2012 | |
| Birth name | Steven Eugene Corino |
| Born | May 29, 1973[1] Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Nicole Holmstock
(m. 1997; div. 2003)Saana-Maria Huhtimo
(m. 2006; div. 2009)Jordan Pennypacker (m. 2013) |
| Children | 3 |
| Family | Allison Danger (sister) Ares (brother in-law) Colby Corino (son) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Katakari Max[2] Kendo Shinkiba[1] King Corino Lightning Kid (II)[2] Monster C[1] Mr. Baseball[1] Mr. Wrestling 3[2] Steve Christie Steve Corino[1] Tom Cosati[2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Sea Isle City, New Jersey[1] |
| Trained by | King Kaluha[3] Mark Mest[3] Salvatore Sincere[1] |
| Debut | April 6, 1994 |
| Retired | 2021 |
Corino has held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, the MLW World Heavyweight Championship, and the 1PW World Heavyweight Championship once each, and the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship twice each. In addition to these titles, he has also held the ROH World Tag Team Championship once, as well as numerous titles on the independent circuit.
Corino began wrestling in 1994 and spent four years working on the independent circuit. During this time, he was a part of the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, a promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy.[4] Corino began an anti-hardcore gimmick on the independent circuit, because he felt he would have more chance of getting work if he did not work hardcore matches. He gained experience, working in Puerto Rico for the WWC, working under the ring name Lightning Kid (which had been a gimmick previously used by Sean Waltman) and also made some appearances for the WWF as a jobber from 1996 to 1998.
In 1998, Corino debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a heel manager. He stood out in ECW as a result of his "King of Old School" gimmick, where he would deride hardcore wrestlers, at one point invading a Limp Bizkit concert and protesting the immoral conduct.[5]
In late 1999, Corino took Jack Victory on as a manager, and became an advisor for Tajiri and Rhino. He then began feuding with Dusty Rhodes, who defeated him in a gory Bullrope match at Living Dangerously. At Heat Wave 2000, he lost to Jerry Lynn. Corino went on to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on November 5, 2000, at November to Remember by defeating Justin Credible, Sandman and Champion Jerry Lynn in a Double Jeopardy match;[6] then to successfully defend it in December at Massacre on 34th Street (against Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible in a three way dance) and at Holiday Hell 2000 (against Justin Credible and The Sandman in a three way dance).
Due to repeated failures of ECW paying Corino his salary, he left the company on January 7, 2001, the night he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to The Sandman at Guilty as Charged 2001. His friend Dustin Rhodes got him a contract in World Championship Wrestling, but he never got to make an appearance despite being due to debut at the company's third to last PPV Sin. When World Wrestling Entertainment took over WCW in March 2001, they released Corino from his contract. He went on to wrestle for many of the National Wrestling Alliance regional promotions. On April 24, he won the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship.
Corino continued his feud with Rhodes in his Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion as well as Southern Championship Wrestling and was part of the Extreme Horsemen with C. W. Anderson and Barry Windham. He was also part of the Extreme Horsemen in Major League Wrestling with C. W. Anderson, Justin Credible and Simon Diamond. They were briefly managed by the legendary J. J. Dillon before MLW folded. Also, Corino went on to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship before the promotion was folded.
In 2004 Corino made a number of appearances for Frontier Wrestling Alliance in the United Kingdom, where he entered a short rivalry with Alex Shane. The feud culminated in the main event match of Hotwired, where Corino defeated Shane with the assistance of then FWA Heavyweight Champion, Doug Williams.
As Steve Corino was a major part of ECW towards the end of its run, rumors swirled surrounding Corino possibly signing with World Wrestling Entertainment and returning to his ECW roots as a part of the new version of ECW, but he squashed those rumors in a posting on his LiveJournal.[7]
Instead of signing with WWE, Corino worked in various independent promotions, including Zero-One, Hustle in Japan, Ring of Honor in the United States and both One Pro Wrestling and Celtic Wrestling in the United Kingdom. He was also president of World-1 Fighting Arts, which runs shows in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Corino also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during its early days. Corino had matches with Low Ki and many other stars before leaving the promotion some time later.
Steve Corino appeared in the inaugural event “The Era of Honor Begins” on color commentary. Responding to a challenge from The Backseat Boyz, Homicide invited anyone in the locker room to be his partner. Steve Corino made his ROH debut and responded to his offer, resulting in the two facing the Backseat Boys later that night. In the course of the match, Corino turned on Homicide after Homicide accidentally hit him, Old School Kicking his partner and leaving the ring, enabling the Backseat Boyz to easily defeat Homicide.
Homicide and Corino would then begin a four-year rivalry, with Corino criticizing Homicide's lifestyle and somewhat checkered past. The feud culminated in a match at the One Year Anniversary Show on February 8, 2003, in Queens, New York, New York. Homicide was the hometown favorite, but lost to Corino following interference from The Group (Samoa Joe, Michael Shane, C. W. Anderson and Simply Luscious), Corino's entourage. After the match, Corino applied a cobra clutch to Homicide, while the rest of The Group mocked New York City, instigating a worked riot.
Corino and Homicide had a rematch August 16, 2003, at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies which saw Corino defeated. After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modified STF, prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LeGrande, to throw in the towel, awarding the match to Homicide. In the course of the match, Corino suffered a legitimate ruptured eardrum, and permanently lost most of the hearing in his left ear following a stiff slap to the side of the head from Homicide. Homicide has since stated in a shoot interview that he is not sorry for costing Corino his hearing, claiming Corino had been stiff with him the whole match.
Homicide faced Corino for a third time on November 29, 2003, at War of the Wire in a barbed wire match. This time however, Julius Smokes threw in the towel for Homicide after Corino throttled him with a length of barbed wire. Corino offered Homicide a handshake after the match, indicating that he finally respected Homicide, but Homicide refused to shake his hand. On October 14, 2005, at Enter the Dragon, Corino returned to ROH in a tag team match that saw him team with Colt Cabana to defeat Low Ki and Homicide.
On December 3 in New York City at Steel Cage Warfare, Homicide lost to Corino in a rematch from their feud of 2003 after Colt Cabana, under a mask, interfered in the match. During the match, Homicide separated his shoulder, but opted not to have surgery. As a result of his injury, Homicide was unable to compete at the following show, Final Battle 2005. He did show up, however, but with the intent on killing Steve Corino. Following Corino's match, Homicide ran down to the ring and attacked him. Colt Cabana ran down to the ring to save Corino, only to have Homicide pour Drano down his throat.
He returned to ROH in August 2006 after a long absence, reigniting his feud with Homicide. The feud culminated on November 4 in Philadelphia, at The Bitter End when Homicide beat Corino in a Fight Without Honor. Although the two still hated each other, they shook hands after the match and Corino allowed Homicide to shave his head.
After announcing that his retirement would come at the end of 2007, Corino began a retirement tour and traveled to various federations as a part of the tour. On October 6, 2007, Corino captured the B4W North American title in Morganville, New Jersey from then-champion Tommy Thunda.
On November 3, 2007, Corino survived three rounds of an 8-man, single-night tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to become the Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Eddie Osbourne in the first round by pinfall, Pepper Parks in the second round by referee stoppage and "Fabulous" John McChesney in the finals by pinfall following a pair of lariat clotheslines. On November 10, 2007, Corino successfully defended the B4W North American title against Jihad. On November 24 he beat Absolute Andy for the GSW Heavyweight Championship in Oberhausen, Germany which was his very last appearance in Europe.
On December 8, 2007, Corino made his final Northeast appearance for B4W. He lost the North American title to Jihad in a submission match after his protege Ricky Landell had to throw in the towel. Corino won the Platinum Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title on December 14, 2007, after defeating "The Indy Wrestling Superstar" Erico in front of a sold out crowd in Michigan City, Indiana.
Corino's retirement tour came to an end December 28, 2007, when he wrestled his final match for the Showcase Wrestling Revolution in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On that night he faced off with "The Prophet" Jeremy Barnoff, "The Seasoned Veteran" Brick Crawford and "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen for the SWR International Championship in a fatal four way elimination match.
Corino wrestled a few try-out matches for WWE over a span of two days. Dusty Rhodes, Corino's former rival, was hopeful that WWE would sign him, but he was not offered a contract. Corino stated on his MySpace he enjoyed his time with WWE but felt he was too old school for the company.
On the January 4, 2008, Corino won his third Zero1-Max United States Openweight Championship as Mr. Wrestling 3 (named after Mr. Wrestling I and II) by beating Ricky Landell in Valdosta, Georgia. He then lost the U.S. Title to SJK on March 8, 2008, at the Devil Bhudakahn Memorial Show in Munhall, Pennsylvania. He now wrestles as "Mr. Wrestling 3" Steve Corino without the mask, and sometimes as just Mr. Wrestling 3 with the mask.
On July 24, 2008, Corino announced he would begin wrestling full-time again in his online blog. Corino plans to return to Japan where he has been the most successful.[8]
On July 19, 2008, Corino participated in the event WWC Anniversary but only to lose to Eugene.[9] Later on September 20, 2008, he participated in the event Septiembre Negro where he defeated Sabu.[10][11] Recently he is one of the members of a group called "La Familia", and is in a feud with BJ for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship.[12] In this feud thanks to the beatings that lead disqualification by the members of "La Familia", Ray Gonzalez saved BJ and after that Steve Corino attacked Ray Gonzalez in the locker rooms and this began a feud for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship.[12] On February 7, Steve Corino beat Ray Gonzalez to become WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion.[13] On July 11 at Aniversario 2009 he lost the title to BJ.
On June 26, 2010- Corino was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, West Virginia at their annual "LPW Rumble in the Valley" event.
Since August 2010, Corino has made appearances in Germany for German Stampede Wrestling.[14]
On April 23, 2011, Corino returned to WWC and defeated Carlito, Gilbert and Shane the Glamour Boy in a gauntlet match to win the vacant WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship for the second time.[15] He would lose the title to Carlito on June 4, 2011.
On January 28, 2012, Steve Corino, billed as the "King of Old School", defeated Vordell Walker with assistance by Jillian Hall and the "Tokyo Monster" Kahagas in Orlando, Florida to become the PWX (Pro Wrestling Extreme) Heavyweight Champion.[16] Corino, although bloodied, successfully defended his title against Tommy "Wildfire" Rich on April 28, 2012, in Orlando, Florida.[16]
On December 28, 2012, Steve Corino made his appearance for an ECW "revival" company as he appeared for Extreme Rising as the "mystery challenger" for Stevie Richards' Extreme Rising World Championship, where he was defeated by submission.[17]
In September 2014, Steve Corino defeated Doug Williams for the WAW World Heavyweight Championship in England[18] which he would then defend in the USA in 2014 and 2015 against Curt Robinson and Joe Black.[19]
On May 9, 2015, Steve Corino made an appearance at TWE in Red Bank, Chattanooga against Ray Fury, where he was defeated.
On May 22, 2015, Steve Corino became the PWF World-1 Heavyweight Champion defeating Jagger, Emmanuel Ortega and former teammate CW Anderson in a Fatal Four-Way.[20]
On March 6, 2016, Corino, along with CW Anderson, returned to Zero1 to take part in the promotion's 15th anniversary event.[21]
On the December 7 edition of Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet, a video was shown hyping Corino's return to the company.[22] During early 2010, Corino formed a partnership with Kevin Steen and together the two of them started a feud with Steen's former tag team partner El Generico and Colt Cabana.[23][24] On April 3, 2010, Corino made his ROH pay-per-view debut at The Big Bang!, where he and Steen were defeated by El Generico and Cabana via disqualification, when Steen used a chair on his former partner.[25] On September 11 at Glory By Honor IX Generico and Cabana defeated Steen and Corino in a Double Chain match, when Cabana forced Corino to tap out.[26] On October 16, 2010, Cabana defeated Corino in an "I Quit" match to end their feud.[27] Following Steen's departure from Ring of Honor after December's Final Battle 2010, Corino proclaimed himself a changed man and turned babyface.[28] Corino began feuding with Mike Bennett, and the two faced each other at Manhattan Mayhem IV on March 19, with Bennett picking up the victory.[29] On May 21 at Supercard of Honor VI, Corino revealed the returning Jimmy Jacobs as the sponsor, who had helped him change his ways.[30] Kevin Steen returned to ROH on June 26 at Best in the World 2011, seemingly wanting redemption as well. However, after saving Corino from the House of Truth, Steen turned on him and Jacobs, before being dragged out of the arena.[31] On December 23 at Final Battle 2011, with Jimmy Jacobs as the special guest referee and Jim Cornette at ringside, Kevin Steen defeated his former mentor, Corino, in a No Disqualification match to be reinstated in ROH.[32]
Corino later returned to ROH on May 12, 2012, when he formed the S.C.U.M. (Suffering, Chaos, Ugliness, and Mayhem) stable with Steen and Jacobs.[33][34] On September 15 at Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency, Corino and Jacobs defeated Charlie Haas and Rhett Titus in the finals of a tournament to win the vacant ROH World Tag Team Championship.[35] They lost the title to the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday in a three-way match, which also included the team of Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander.[36] On April 6, 2013, Corino became the new leader of S.C.U.M., when the stable turned on Kevin Steen, after he had lost the ROH World Championship.[37] On June 23, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband, after being defeated by Team ROH in a Steel Cage Warfare match.[38]
Since the dissolution of S.C.U.M., Corino has been working with ROH as their regular color commentator alongside play-by-play commentator Kevin Kelly and occasionally Nigel McGuinness while simultaneously having a running feud with B. J. Whitmer and The Decade. The rivalry has included Whitmer goading Corino to join The Decade, with Corino refusing, but Whitmer wasn't talking about Steve but his real-life son Colby and successfully recruiting him into The Decade. During his feud, McGuinness warned Corino that he can't attack any ROH employee or he will be suspended. After attacking Whitmer with a roll of quarters, McGuinness suspended and banned him from commentary, but then, he was reinstated as a wrestler and was scheduled to fight Whitmer in a Fight without Honor at Final Battle, but Corino announced that he was gonna have neck surgery and that his career may end. He continued to commentary with a mask under the name of Mr. Wrestling 3. Even he was taking that gimmick, Whitmer was saying that Mr. Wrestling 3 was indeed Steve Corino and was convincing Colby, that Corino replaced him for Corino's new wife and son, and Whitmer continued torturing Colby in front of Corino's eyes. At War of the Worlds, Corino returned as the Steve Corino character, admitting that he didn't want to be the "Evil Man" anymore, but after Whitmer's deeds, he promised that at the newly reinstated match that will happen at Best in the World 2016, he will do things that he will never apologize for. At Best in the World, Corino faced Whitmer in a Non-Sanctioned Fight without Honor, but he lost after the interference of Kevin Sullivan. After Best in the World, Corino returned to commentating, but during Whitmer's matches, he was continuously berated by Sullivan. At the Final Battle event, Cody, who defeated Jay Lethal, proceeded to cause chaos in the ring and then he pushed Corino. The night at the event, Whitmer said that a "brother" has to be sacrificed, which was revealed that Corino was about to fight Cody, who berated Corino's actions with Dusty Rhodes. In their match, Corino lost to Cody, which was Corino's last match in ROH. Corino's ROH contract expired on December 31, 2016.[39]
In November 2016, Corino worked as a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center.[40] Shortly afterwards, it was reported that he had signed to become a full-time trainer for WWE, starting January 2017.[41] On January 12, 2017, it was confirmed that Corino was now working for WWE.[42] According to Pro Wrestling Torch in September 2017, Corino teaches the advanced class at the WWE Performance Center, the third of four levels of classes.[43]
In November 2018, it was revealed through a leaked script of NXT Takeover WarGames that same month that Corino is currently working with NXT as a producer as he was credited for the NXT Championship match between champion Tommaso Ciampa and The Velveteen Dream for a role as a producer for that particular match.[44]
Corino is the older brother of retired independent wrestler Allison Danger, and has a half-brother whose first name is also Steven.[45]
Corino married Nicole Holmstock on June 14, 1997. Together they have a son, Colby (born August 28, 1996), who is a professional wrestler.[1] Corino and Nicole divorced in 2003. On November 12, 2005, Steve Corino got engaged to his Finnish girlfriend Saana-Maria Huhtimo. They were married on May 12, 2006, in North Carolina.[46] However, the couple separated in mid-2008, divorcing the following year. Corino married Jordan Pennypacker in 2013, and had their first child together, a son named Beckham, or "Becks" for short.
Corino has repeatedly stated that his favorite old school wrestlers are Tommy Rich and Tully Blanchard. Corino has said that his favorite match while in ECW was the infamous Texas Bullrope Match against Dusty Rhodes at Living Dangerously 2000.
Corino hosts the Extreme Odd Couple podcast with Rob Dimension, where they talk about professional wrestling and their personal lives.[47]
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