Steve Lombardi

"This article is about the professional wrestler sometimes known as Kim Chee. For the traditional Korean dish, see KimchiInfobox Wrestler|name=Steve Lombardi


names=Steve Lombardi
Brooklyn Brawler
Boston Brawler
Kim Chee
Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz
MVP
Kangaroo
Doink the Clown
The Red Knight
height=6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
weight=240 lb (109 kg)
birth_date = birth date and age|1961|4|18
birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
billed= Brooklyn, New York
trainer=
debut=1983
death_date =
retired=|

Steve Lombardi (born April 18 1961 in Brooklyn, New York) is a professional wrestler, of Italian origins, and road agent, more commonly known by his ring name The Brooklyn Brawler. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Career

Lombardi is often recognized as the most famous "jobber" in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment. For the majority of his career, whenever Lombardi was seen on television, it was almost a guarantee that he was going to lose.

World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment

1980s

Steve Lombardi began his WWF career in late 1983, competing under his real name and being used primarily as an enhancement talent until early 1989, when he was repackaged as The Brooklyn Brawler and, under the tutelage of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, entered a feud with The Red Rooster. When The Rooster left Heenan's heel stable and turned face, Heenan stated that he had made The Rooster a star and could do the same with anyone in the company. However, neither wrestler got over with the fans, and the Brawler's alliance with Heenan was phased out and he returned to his former jobber status, a role he would remain in throughout the 1990s.

1990s

Lombardi was used in a number of gimmicks, often masked. In late 1993, he briefly replaced Matt Borne as Doink the Clown. He also portrayed Kim Chee (Kamala's handler) and Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz (a short-lived heel baseball player gimmick used during the 1994 Major League Baseball strike), also known as MVP (Most Violent Player).

Since the late 1990s, he has been semi-retired from the ring, working mostly as a road agent for WWF and only occasionally appearing in the ring, usually for comic skits and matches. In 1996, Lombardi lost to Dwayne Johnson, who would later become The Rock, in Johnson's WWF tryout match. [ [http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/archive/peoplearchive.php/The_Rock/biog The Rock - Actors] MonstersandCritics.com (2008). Retrieved on June 27, 2008.]

Despite his status as a jobber, Lombardi had some big wins and title shots. In 1991 the Brooklyn Brawler entered into a small feud with new WWF star Big Bully Busick after the Brawler challenged Busick to match to see who the real bully of the WWF was. The Brawler defeated the Bully by countout and in a rematch one week later saw the Brawler dominate the Bully until Wippleman grabbed the Brawlers leg leading to a controversial win for the Bully. On October 4th, 1993 Lombardi also competed in the WWF Intercontinental title Battle Royal (as The M.V.P.). In 1997, he won a battle royal for a WWF Championship match in Madison Square Garden; he went on to face then-WWF champion Shawn Michaels, but was defeated. On the September 20, 1999 episode of "Raw is War", Lombardi was one of the replacement referees while the original referees were on strike. In 2000, he scored a pinfall against then-World Champion Triple H in a non-title handicap match and a rare singles victory over Just Joe on an episode of "WWE Jakked".

2000s

Although he didn't have a speaking line, it's interesting to note that on a now famous segment of "Raw is War" when Stephanie McMahon said to an aging Freddie Blassie "Fred- you and the WWF have one thing in common... you're both about to die!" It was Lombardi who wheeled Blassie out the arena where they saw Stephanie and Shane McMahon.

As part of an angle on "SmackDown!", he adopted the moniker of the "Boston Brawler," shedding his customary New York Yankees apparel in favor of Boston Red Sox clothing. This was done in response to the Red Sox' defeat of the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, which propelled the Sox to their World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Lombardi did this in a segment on "SmackDown!" (in New York City) with Heidenreich. Heidenreich was looking to make more friends, but Lombardi decided he'd rather be the Boston Brawler. Heidenreich stopped wanting to be Lombardi's friend, which aided Heidenreich's ongoing face turn.

In early 2006, he still worked behind the scenes of WWE, including behind the camera with John Cena on his WWE.com show "5 Questions." Cena often makes references to Lombardi, even jokingly calling him the greatest technical wrestler of all time. Also, his face popped up in front of Cena's mouth to censor curse words, usually saying "Nu-Uh!" or "Brawler!". On the June 2 2006 episode of Five Questions, Brawler showed his face. He even censored himself, saying "YOU are a piece of Brawler." In another episode of "5 Questions," Cena acknowledged that Lombardi was actually born in Detroit, and not in Brooklyn.

On May 7, 2006, WWE.com announced that, as part of Jakks Pacific's "WWE Classic Superstars" collection, they would be releasing a Brooklyn Brawler action figure. [ [http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/archive/brawlerfigure WWE: Inside WWE > News > Archive > Christmas comes early for former WWE Superstar ] ]

At "Vengeance 2006", Brawler appeared as Doink the Clown when he came out to the ring with Eugene during Eugene's match with Umaga [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/doink-the-clown Doink the Clown: Information and Much More from Answers.com ] ] . On August 1 2006, Lombardi went to the ECW brand for a match against former ECW Extremist, Kurt Angle. Lombardi quickly lost when Angle applied an ankle lock on him. That same week, he appeared on "SmackDown!" against Vito, losing by submission. On the December 18 edition of "RAW", Lombardi appeared in the 30 Man Battle Royal as the Brooklyn Brawler.

On the May 5 2007 edition of "SmackDown!", Lombardi made an appearance backstage in his Brooklyn Brawler persona, waiting in line for interviews to become SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long's assistant.

On the 15th anniversary of "Raw" on December 10 2007, Lombardi appeared as Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz in a segment. When Triple H saw him, he exclaimed "I guess the Brooklyn Brawler was busy tonight".

On September 25,2008 he appeared on WWE web show Santino's casa.

Sexual assault

Nicole Bass claimed that Lombardi sexually harassed her backstage, but the case in 2003 was dismissed. cite web |url = http://www.oowrestling.com/columns/oo/20021009.shtml|title = RAW Rebounds, Ratings, Bass Case Decided, Rock on TNA, and More...|work =Scarla, Rick and Online Onslaught|accessdate=2008-02-04]

Wrestling facts

*Finishing and signature moves:*Superplex:*Swinging / falling neckbreaker

*Managers:*Bobby Heenan

*Wrestlers managed:*Kamala

Championships and accomplishments

*Border City Wrestling:*BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [cite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/other/2003-01.html | title=Independent Wrestling Results - January 2003 | accessdate=2008-07-05|publisher=onlineworldofwrestling.com] :*BCW Can-Am Television Championship (1 time)

*NWA of Michigan:*NWA Michigan Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.born2bbig.com/steve-lombardi.html Steve Lombardi pictures]