Mark Jindrak

Mark Jindrak
Jindrak, as Marco Corleone, in September 2006.
Birth name Mark Robert Jindrak
Born (1977-06-26) June 26, 1977
Auburn, New York[1]
Residence Mexico City, Mexico[2]
Spouse(s)
Miroslava Luna (m. 2015)
Children 2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Mark Jindrak[3]
Marco Corleone[3]
Billed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1]
Billed weight 265 lb (120 kg)[4]
Billed from Atlanta, Georgia[4]
Trained by Paul Orndorff[5]
Debut 1999[5]

Mark Robert Jindrak (born June 26, 1977) is an American professional wrestler. He worked under the ring name Marco Corleone for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is a former World Heavyweight Champion and World Trios Champion alongside Máximo and Rush. Under his real name, Jindrak is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion alongside Sean O'Haire, and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)

Jindrak trained in the WCW Power Plant under Paul Orndorff.[5] He was promoted to the main WCW roster in June 2000 under the Vince Russo era where he formed a tag team with fellow Power Plant graduate Sean O'Haire. In August 2000, Jindrak and O'Haire helped form The Natural Born Thrillers with Mike Sanders, Shawn Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, and Reno.[5] They were briefly "coached" by Kevin Nash.[5] In September 2000, Jindrak won the World Tag Team Championship with O'Haire for the first time, despite being relatively new in the business. The pair would win the World Tag Team Title one more time before splitting in early January 2001 when Jindrak would begin teaming with Stasiak instead. The team was short-lived, as Stasiak went on to pick up the managerial service of Stacy Keibler and Jindrak was taken off of television.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2001–2005)

After the World Wrestling Federation purchased WCW in March 2001, Jindrak came into the company in July 2001 as part of The Alliance that invaded the WWF roster. Jindrak wrestled in dark matches and at house shows throughout July. His first televised debut was on the July 28, 2001 episode of Jakked, defeating Jerry Lynn. In late August of that year Mark Jindrak was sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association. There he was a member of Team WCW along with Mike Sanders, Johnny The Bull, Reno, Jason Jett, Lash LeRoux, Shannon Moore, Evan Karagias, Kwee Wee, Elix Skipper and Jamie Knoble. In October 2001 Jindrak was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for training until March 2002 when he suffered a knee injury. Jindrak returned to OVW in July 2002. He also returned to WWE on the October 13, 2002 episode Sunday Night Heat defeating Justin Credible. He made a few more appearances on Heat in late 2002, defeating wrestlers such as Credible, Raven and Stevie Richards until suffering an ankle injury. Jindrak returned to OVW in March 2003 following his recovery, and joined Kenny Bolin's "Bolin Services" stable and teamed with Garrison Cade while in OVW.

Jindrak at a WWE house show in January 2005.

Jindrak was soon called up by WWE. Triple H would reveal on his 2013 Triple H - Thy Kingdom Come DVD that Jindrak was originally planned to be in Evolution alongside himself, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton. This claim was further confirmed by vignettes filmed that feature Jindrak with Evolution. However, for undisclosed reasons, his spot as the Arn Anderson-like enforcer of the group ended up going to Batista instead.[6] After being pulled out of the Evolution angle, Jindrak made his Raw debut on July 7, 2003 as a face where he was defeated by Chris Jericho. He then began to tag team with Garrison Cade on the Raw brand. The two feuded with teams such as La Résistance, Evolution and The Dudley Boyz. The team soon separated when Jindrak was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on March 22, 2004. He made his debut as a member of SmackDown on its secondary show Velocity, during which he appeared as "The Reflection of Perfection", a narcissistic heel gimmick obsessed with his own physique. On April 8, 2004, Jindrak gained Theodore Long's managerial services for a brief period until the pair split in July when Long turned face and became the general manager of SmackDown! while Jindrak remained on Velocity. In September, Jindrak aligned himself with Kurt Angle and Luther Reigns to assist Angle in assaulting and shaving Big Show bald during the fifth anniversary episode of SmackDown! Jindrak and Reigns continued to serve as Kurt Angle's proteges until February 2005, at which point they split from Angle to continue their own feud with The Undertaker. However, Jindrak and Reigns' team began to have a falling out, most notably after they lost to Undertaker in a "Double Jeopardy" handicap match on the February 24, 2005 episode of SmackDown! because of Jindrak submitting to a triangle choke. The following week, Jindrak and Reigns lost a Tag Team Championship match against Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Following the loss, Jindrak turned face by getting into a fight with Reigns and knocking him out with a left hook. On the March 10 episode of SmackDown!, Jindrak defeated Reigns in a singles match. After this, Jindrak became a low-card star who performed on Velocity and only appeared on SmackDown! to job against other wrestlers, during which he alternated between face and heel alignments. On the May 28 episode of Velocity, Jindrak unsuccessfully faced Orlando Jordan for the United States Championship. He then wrestled his last match on the SmackDown! brand on the June 18th episode of Velocity, which he lost to René Duprée. On June 30, Jindrak became one of the last minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft, returning him back to the Raw brand. However, Jindrak never made his Raw re-debut, as he was released from his contract on July 5, 2005.

Japan and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2006–2009)

Following his departure from WWE, Jindrak toured New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2006, where he was primarily used as a low-carder. He did, however, pick up a surprise win over long-time veteran Osamu Nishimura during the tour. Soon after, Jindrak began working with fellow WWE alumnus Matt Morgan in the Japanese promotion HUSTLE as part of the tag team of Sodom (Jindrak) and Gomorrah (Morgan).

In late 2006, Jindrak began working for the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre under the name Marco Corleone. As a part of his new ring name, which he derived from The Godfather,[2] Corleone also accentuated his Italian American heritage as a part of his new gimmick, which included allying with fellow WCW and WWE alumnus Johnny Stamboli.[2] Initially a rudo (heel), Corleone turned into a technico (face) because to crowd support.[2] In 2008, it was announced in 2008 that Jindrak had been officially banned from performing at wrestling shows in Tijuana, Mexico for a year due to pulling down the tights of his opponent during a match.[7]

AAA and Perros del Mal (2009–2010)

On March 15, 2009, Jindrak, under his Marco Corleone ring name, made a surprise jump from CMLL to AAA, appearing as a surprise corner man for Vampiro during AAA's 2009 Rey de Reyes show. Corleone helped Vampiro win the match against AAA's top heel Konnan.[8] On June 13, 2009 at Triplemanía XVII Corleone teamed with Latin Lover against La Hermandad 187 (Nicho El Millonario and Joe Lider) in a match for the World Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. On March 22, 2010, AAA released Jindrak.[9] Corleone later stated that he had initially only signed a one-year contract with AAA and had declined to re-sign.[10] On April 11, 2010, Mexican promotion Perros del Mal announced that they had signed Jindrak, still using the ring name Marco Corleone, to a contract.[11]

Lucha Libre USA (2010–2012)

Corleone competed on MTV's lucha libre show, Lucha Libre USA. He became involved with the promotion shortly after leaving AAA in early 2010, and was involved in finding and signing wrestlers for the show.[10][12] On December 12, 2010 Corleone, Charly Malice and RJ Brewer were defeated in a four-way elimination match by Lizmark, Jr., who became the inaugural Heavyweight Champion in the process. This episode aired on tape delay on October 1, 2011.[13] On October 3, 2012, Corleone unsuccessfully challenged in a three way match for the LLUSA Heavyweight Championship losing to RJ Brewer and the match also included Lizmark Jr.

Return to CMLL (2011–2018)

On December 10, 2011, CMLL announced that Corleone would return to the promotion on December 16 at CMLL's Sin Piedad show.[14] In his return match, Corleone, Máximo and Rush defeated Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas and Rey Bucanero in two straight falls.[15] After the event, the trio of Corleone, Rush and Máximo was given the name La Tercia Sensación,[16] which was later changed to El Bufete del Amor.[17] On February 19, 2012, El Bufete del Amor defeated Los Hijos del Averno (Averno, Ephesto and Mephisto) to win the World Trios Championship.[18] On August 24, 2012, Corleone was defeated by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the quarterfinal round of the Universal Championship Tournament. In the fall of 2012 El Bufete began a feud against the Mexican National Trios Champions Los Invasores (Volador, Jr., Mr. Águila and Kraneo). The two teams fought several occasions with El Bufete's World Trios Championship on the line, while Los Invasores' Mexican National Trios Championship being passed over was compared to the more prestigious CMLL title.[19] Corleone was forced to team up with Kraneo for the 2013 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament"), a tag team tournament teaming up wrestlers who would never team up otherwise, often because they are rivals, would be forced to work together. The team lost to Shocker and Mr. Niebla in the opening round because of their inability to get along for only match.[20][21] In May, Corleone was sidelined with a knee injury, leading to CMLL stripping him, Máximo and Rush of the World Trios Championship.[22]

On August 2, 2013, Corleone returned from injury teaming with La Sombra and Rush defeating Averno, Mephisto and Volador Jr. in a two out of three falls match.[23] On September 16, 2014, Corleone and Rush defeated El Terrible and Rey Escorpión to win La Copa CMLL.[24] On December 7, Corleone was knocked unconscious during a match with El Terrible, after being hit on the back of the head by a ring rope. He regained consciousness shortly thereafter and was reportedly doing well.[25] On March 17, 2015, Los Ingobernables (Corleone and Rush) unsuccessfully challenged Negro Casas and Shocker in a two out of three falls match for the World Tag Team Championship.[26]

On June 6, 2017, Corleone defeated Euforia, Dragón Rojo Jr., El Terrible, Gran Guerrero, Kráneo, Mr. Niebla, Pierroth, Rey Bucanero and Rush in a torneo cibernetico elimination match to win the World Heavyweight Championship, the first singles title of his career.[27] On June 18, Corleone made his first successful title defense against El Terrible. On August 22, 2018, Corleone had to vacate the title due to an injury and thus confirmed his departure from CMLL.[28]

Other media

Due to his success in Mexican promotions, Jindrak has appeared on several Mexican game shows, soap operas, television shows and magazine covers.[2] He was also named "Best Body in Mexico".[2] He also wrote a book in Spanish entitled Marco Corleone: las primera luchas de mi vida (Marco Corleone: the first fights of my life) for children, to help them cope with bullying in schools.[2] Jindrak tried out for the film Remember the Titans, and was offered a role as a football player. As he was in training at the WCW Power Plant at the time however, he turned the role down.[29]

In 2012, Jindrak starred in the Mexican telenovela Porque el amor manda as Ury Petrovsky.[30]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005MTV's The 70s HouseHimselfSeason 1, Episode 3
2010Sábado GiganteHimself
2012–13Porque el amor mandaUry Petrovsky
2013Noches con PlatanitoHimself
2014–15Mi corazón es tuyoMike
2017La doble vida de Estela CarrilloAsdrúbal
2017Como dice el dichoSeason 7, Episode 55

Personal life

Jindrak has a degree in marketing.[1] He also played basketball for the Keuka College's Storm in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.[5] Jindrak has the highest vertical leap in WWE history, and his personal best is over 42 inches (110 cm).[29]

Jindrak resides in Mexico with his wife and son.[2] His father is of German descent and his mother is of Italian descent.[2] On November 3, 2015, Jindrak announced that he married Mexican fashion designer and model Miroslava Luna.[31]

In July 2016, Jindrak was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[32]

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Shocker and Universo 2000 (hair)Marco Corelone and Kenzo Suzuki (hair)Mexico City, MexicoSin Piedad (2006)December 15, 2006[40]
Marco Corleone (hair)Universo 2000 (hair)Mexico City, MexicoHomenaje a Dos Leyendas (2007)March 30, 2007 
Marco Corleone (hair)Lizmark, Jr. (hair)Mexico City, MexicoCMLL Live eventOctober 17, 2008 

References

  1. 1 2 3 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-14). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  3. 1 2 "OWOW profile".
  4. 1 2 "PWI Official Ratings". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. London Publishing. February 2009. p. 145. Vol 30, Nr. 2 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  6. ↑ "Photo: Who Was Supposed To Take Batista's Spot In Evolution? - WrestlingInc.com".
  7. ↑ D-rock (6 August 2008). "Wrestling News Center: Mark Jindrak Banned From Tijuana For Pulling The Tights".
  8. ↑ "Resultados de Rey de Reyes-AAA (16 marzo 2008) Elecktroshock nuevo Rey de Reyes. Juventud Guerrera y Marco Corleone las sorpresas. Wagner se presenta en AAA para retar al Mesías" (in Spanish). SuperLucha.net. 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  9. ↑ "Marco Corleone liberado" (in Spanish). Lucha Libre AAA World Wide. 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  10. 1 2 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-14). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  11. ↑ "Latin Lover será un Perro del Mal" (in Spanish). Record.com.mx. 2010-04-11. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  12. ↑ Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-14). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  13. ↑ Roberts, Alex (December 13, 2010). "12/12 Lucha Libre USA TV taping: Spoiler results for season premiere of MTV2 wrestling show - former TNA wrestler debuts, first Hvt. champion crowned". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  14. ↑ Mexicool, Rey (2011-12-10). "Cartel completo de Sin Piedad – Se presenta Marco Corleone en el CMLL" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  15. ↑ Huerta, Diego (2011-12-18). "Marco Corleone 'vuelve a volar' en la Arena México". Récord (in Spanish). Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  16. ↑ Salazar López, Alexis A. "Viernes 23 de Diciembre '11". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2011-12-25.
  17. ↑ "El Bufete del Amor busca seguir triunfando". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  18. 1 2 Huerta, Diego (February 19, 2012). "Corleone, Rush y Máximo, nuevos Campeones Mundiales de Tríos CMLL". Récord (in Spanish). Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Sigue reinando el Buffet del Amor en el CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). February 18, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Volador y la Sombra a la Final del Torneo de Parejas Increíbles". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  21. ↑ Salazar López, Alexis A. (March 1, 2013). "Atlantis y Último Guerrero ¿Estaremos frente a un duelo candidato para conmemorar el 80 Aniversario del CMLL?". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  22. ↑ Boutwell, Josh (May 11, 2013). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly for 5/11/13". WrestleView. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  23. ↑ "CMLL on Televisa Results".
  24. 1 2 Zamora, Antonio (September 16, 2014). "Rush y Marco Corleone ganan la Copa CMLL en la Arena Puebla". Periódico Enfoque (in Spanish). Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Marco Corleone se desvaneció en la Arena Coliseo". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  26. ↑ "CMLL Guerreros del Ring Results".
  27. 1 2 "Marco Corleone es el nuevo campeón completo del CMLL" [Marco Corleone is the new heavyweight champion of CMLL]. MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  28. ↑ https://www.solowrestling.com/new/73554-marco-corleone-abandona-cmll-y-deja-vacante-su-campeonato-mundial-peso-pesado
  29. 1 2 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  30. ↑ "Marco Corleone, el luchador que amenaza a Fernando Colunga".
  31. ↑ "More Details On Nikki Bella Injury, Former WWE Star / CMLL Star Married".
  32. ↑ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  33. ↑ Zellner, Kris (July 13, 2016). "The Lucha Report". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  34. ↑ "2006 Copa Higher Power Tournament".
  35. ↑ "PWI ratings". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  36. ↑ "PUROLOVE.com". www.purolove.com.
  37. ↑ "Suzuki Cup 2007".
  38. ↑ "Suzuki Cup 2008".
  39. ↑ Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  40. ↑ "December 2006 PPV "Sin Piedad"". Pro Wrestling History. December 15, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
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