Bobby Walker (wrestler)

Bobby Walker
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) "Hardwork" Bobby Walker
Hurricane Walker[1]
Robbie Walker
Billed height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Billed weight 238 lb (108 kg)[2]
Billed from Atlanta, Georgia
Trained by WCW Power Plant[1]
Debut 1989[1]

Bobby Walker is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he competed as "Hardwork" Bobby Walker. He wrestled for WCW from 1992 until 2000.

Career

Walker made his professional debut in 1989. Wrestling as Hurricane Walker in 1990, he challenged for the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship; teaming with Brian Knobbs, he competed for the vacant title against Robert Fuller and Kendall Windham but was unable to win the title. When it was vacated again, he paired with Joe Gomez in another unsuccessful attempt to win the championship. He and Tim Parker won the championship belts in late 1990 by defeating Sgt. Rock and Mark Starr but soon dropped the title to Sgt. Rock and Ron Slinker.[3]

Walker made brief appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in July 1991,[4] the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in November 1991,[5] and the International Championship Wrestling Alliance in 1992.[6][7] In 1991, he was rated number 354 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual ranking of the top 500 wrestlers in the world;[8] the following year, he was ranked at number 365.[9] He later trained at the WCW Power Plant, a training facility operated by WCW.[1] He made his WCW debut in 1992 under the name Robbie Walker. Originally he was scheduled to team with Ron Simmons at the Clash of the Champions against Cactus Jack, Tony Atlas, and The Barbarian in a handicap match, but was injured and was replaced by the debuting 2 Cold Scorpio. After nearly a year recovering and working house shows for WCW, he returned under the name Bobby Walker and appeared in a televised match as part of a tag team with Jason Johnson in a loss to Harlem Heat on the January 8, 1994, episode of WCW Saturday Night.[10][11]

Managed by Teddy Long,[12] Walker competed as a jobber to the stars in WCW. Walker lost the majority of his matches but won occasional bouts against lower-level wrestlers.[13][14][15] He wrestled his only pay-per-view match at WCW's first World War 3 event. He competed in a three-ring, sixty-wrestler battle royal, which was won by Randy Savage.[16][17]

In 1996, Walker was chosen to team with The Barbarian at Slamboree 1996 for the Lethal Lottery, but after he was injured by Lex Luger on a WCW Saturday Night, Walker was replaced by the returning Diamond Dallas Page, who would eventually win the battle royal. Walker later wrestled in a dark match prior to Bash at the Beach 1996, in which he defeated Billy Kidman.[18] The following month, he teamed with Mr. J.L. for a dark match prior to Clash of the Champions XXXIII; they were defeated by The Nasty Boys.[19] He continued to appear with the company until 2000.[20]

Personal life

Walker is the nephew of retired professional wrestler Thunderbolt Patterson. In 2000, Walker, Sonny Onoo, Hardbody Harrison, and several other performers filed a lawsuit against WCW,[21] alleging racial discrimination. Walker stated that his Caucasian opponents were told to make him look bad and that he was told that he would never hold a championship belt.[22][23] He also stated that he was paid less than many of the company's Caucasian wrestlers.[22] The suit also stated that African American wrestlers were made to look "loud, obnoxious, pompous and shiftless".[21] On April 3, 2001, a judge ruled that WCW had not committed fraud or breached the contracts of the plaintiffs. He also ruled that the discrimination lawsuit could proceed.[21] Because the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment, had purchased WCW after the lawsuit was filed, Walker's lawyer stated that the plaintiffs would pursue legal action against the WWF.[21] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court;[24] sources report Harrison received a large payout.[25]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Bobby Walker". Cagematch: The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  2. 1 2 "Bobby Walker". WrestlingData. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  3. 1 2 "Florida Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  4. ↑ "Kampfbilanzen für Bobby Walker: Juli 1991". WrestlingData. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  5. ↑ "Kampfbilanzen für Bobby Walker: November 1991". WrestlingData. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  6. ↑ "Kampfbilanzen für Bobby Walker: Juni 1992". WrestlingData. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  7. ↑ "Kampfbilanzen für Bobby Walker: September 1992". WrestlingData. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  8. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated: 2008 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". 29 (5). Sports & Entertainment Publications, LLC: 32–33. ISSN 1043-7576.
  9. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated: 2008 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". 29 (5). Sports & Entertainment Publications, LLC: 34–35. ISSN 1043-7576.
  10. ↑ "WCW Ring Results: 1993". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  11. ↑ WCW Saturday Night Superstars. Atlanta, Georgia. 1994-01-08. TBS.
  12. ↑ "Theodore Long". Athlete Promotions. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  13. ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WCW Ring Results: 1996". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  14. ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WCW Ring Results: 1997". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  15. ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WCW Ring Results: 1998". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  16. ↑ "Wrestler Profiles: Bobby Walker". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  17. ↑ "World War 3 1995". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  18. ↑ "Bash at the Beach 1996". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  19. ↑ "Clash of the Champions XXXIII". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  20. ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WCW Ring Results: 2000-2001". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Schenke, Jarred (2001-04-16). "Malaysian bike manufacturer opens U.S. operations". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  22. 1 2 Lyon, Stephen (1998-06-29). "WWE cancels shows; Edge's TV debut; WCW starts to kill Goldberg aura; 10 years ago in Observer". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  23. ↑ Keller, Wade (2003-06-28). "WCW News: Discrimination suit filed against WCW - 5 Yrs Ago". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  24. ↑ Reynolds, R.D.; Bryan Alvarez (2004). WrestleCrap and Figure Four Weekly Present...The Death of WCW. ECW Press. p. 138. ISBN 1-55022-661-4.
  25. ↑ "WCW wrestler who sued the company sentenced to life in prison". prowrestling.net. April 1, 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
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