Paul London
From Ring of Honor Wiki
| Paul London | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Biographical information | |
| Real name: |
Paul London |
| Height: |
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight: |
205 lb (93 kg) |
| Born: |
April 16, 1980 |
| Wrestling information | |
| Names: |
Paul London |
| Billed from: |
Austin, Texas |
| Trained by: |
Texas Wrestling Academy |
| Wrestling debut: |
1999 |
| Ring of Honor | |
| Debut: |
Round Robin Challenge |
| No. of apperances: |
17 |
| Departure: |
Death before Dishonor |
| Full Impact Pro | |
| Debut: |
N/A |
| SHIMMER Women Athletes | |
| Deubt: |
N/A |
Paul Sanchez-Garcia London (born April 16, 1980 in Austin, Texas) is an American professional wrestler. After begining his career at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, London made his way to Ring of Honor in 2002. London is recognized as ROH's first home-grown star, going from wrestling lower card matches, to become a midcard wrestler with his feud with Michael Shane, to become one of ROH's top stars in less than a year. London's matches were offten accompanied by fans chanting "Please don't die!", in reference to his fast paced, high-flying offense. He would leave ROH in the summer of 2003 for World Wrestling Entertainment, where he would compete for five years.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Paul London first began wrestling as a teenager, creating and captaining the first wrestling team for Westlake High School. After graduating, London trained at various wrestling schools in West Memphis, Arkansas, before settling on the Texas Wrestling Academy in San Antonio, Texas in 2000. The school was founded by former WWF wrestler Shawn Michaels, with Rudy Boy Gonzalez acting as head trainer. The TWA, London would compete for various promotions around Texas, and later for the Philadelphia-based Ring of Honor.
In April 2003, London scored one of the biggest victories in his independent career when he won the annual ECWA Super 8 tournament.
[edit] Ring of Honor
Paul London made his Ring of Honor debut at the Round Robin Challenge on March 30, 2002, taking on fellow Texas Wrestling Academy wrestler Chris Marvel. The match was lasted only three minutes, ending early when Marvel broke his ankle when London dove onto him. London returned the following month at Night of Appreciation, competing in a Gauntlet match comprised of TWA wrestlers. He defeated John Hope in the first match, but lost to Michael Shane, the real life cousin Shawn Michaels, in the second. Spanky would ultimately go on to win the gauntlet and be crowned the new "Showstopper". In June, London competed in the Road to the Title tournament, used to crown the first ROH Champion. However, he lost to Spanky in the opening round.
At Crowning a Champion on July 27, London teamed with Don Juan to take on Michael Shane and Bio-Hazard in a tag team match with an added stipulation; the wrestler that scored the pinfall or submission would earn a contract with ROH and be flown to all future shows. Up to that point, the TWA wrestlers had to drive from San Antonio, Texas to Philadelphia to compete on the shows. The match ended in controversy as London had Bio-Hazard pinned with Shane had Don Juan pinned, and the referee counted only for Shane. After London headed to the back, Shane cut promo on Spanky, saying he was the true "Showstopper". London came back out and said that he was the most impressive student of the Texas Wrestling Academy, and for Shane to call himself the "Showstopper" is "a slap in the face". Shane responded by literally slapping him the face, starting a brawl between the two that had to be broken up by their trainer, Rudy Boy Gonzalez. Once he got the two backstage, he said since they wanted to fight so bad, he would talk to ROH officials and have one booked for the next show, Honor Invades Boston. Shane, accompanied by Bio-Hazard, would win the match after faking a leg injury after London dove onto him. Fearing Shane had broken his ankle like Chris Marvel, London and several ROH officials check on Shane, only to have him roll up London and win the match. After the match, Shane and Bio-Hazard attacked Rudy Boy and London.
In September, ROH scheduled a tournament to crown the first ROH Tag Team Champions. London was originally supposed to team with Spanky in the tournament, but Spanky ended up being one of several wrestlers who were unable to attend the event. At the start of the show, London announced his new partner would be "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, but was interrupted by Michael Shane, who said he should be Londons partner since hes already proved he can beat him. The two began brawling and after Shane bailed out of the ring, London said he was pulling out of the tournament and challenged Shane to a Street Fight. During his match with Shane, London began executing several dives off the top of a ladder, to the point where fans began to chant "Please don't die". London won the match after a Shooting Star Press off the top of the ladder. The feud between Paul London and Michael Shane continued at Glory by Honor in October, when they along with Spanky competed in a Three-Way Elimination to settle once and for all who the true "Showstopper" was. London and Spanky, both having issues with Shane, initially tried to work together to attack him, but their informal partnership ended when both wanted to be the one to eliminate him. London would be eliminated by Shane after Spanky gave him his finisher, Sliced Bread #2.
When ROH Champion Xavier refused to defend the title, ROH officials created the Number One Contender's Trophy, which was used to determine the top challenger for the title as well as acted as a second championship. A gauntlet match to crown the first hold took place at All-Star Extravaganza on November 9. London entered at number three and defeated Shane, eliminating him from the match. Afterwards, Shane said he wouldn’t shake London’s hand, breaking the Code of Honor, and tried to head to the back. However, he was cut off by former ECW wrestler Tommy Dreamer, who ordered him back to the ring and, after putting over London and ROH, told him to shake his hand. Shane acted as though he was going to shake London’s hand, but attacked him instead, only to be given a DDT by Dreamer. The assault by Shane did not stop London, who defeated The Amazing Red in the next match in the Gauntlet series, only to be eliminated by Bryan Danielson. The feud between London and Shane would conclude one week later, when London teamed with Rudy Boy Gonzalez to defeat Shane and Bio-Hazard in a Street Fight.
At Night of the Butcher, London defeated EZ Money and Bryan Danielson in a mini-tournament to win the Number One Contender's Trophy. However, he failed to defeat Xavier for the ROH Championship at Final Battle 2002, the last show of the year. London started off 2003 strong, defeating Homicide, Colt Cabana and BJ Whitmer in a Four Corner Survival match at Revenge on the Prophecy. He was then booked to compete in a Three-Way match against AJ Styles and Low Ki for the Number One Contender's Trophy at the One Year Anniversary Show. Before the match began, ROH Champion Xavier came out to watch the match from ringside. Immediately after winning the match, Xavier told London if he wanted his title shot it would have to be right then. Despite a valiant effort, London once again failed to win the title. Backstage after the show, Styles asked London to be his partner in an effort to win the ROH Tag Team Championship.
London and Styles were scheduled to compete in a Tag Team Scramble match at Expect the Unexpect on March 13, with the winner of the match going on to challenge Christopher Daniels and Xavier of The Prophecy later that night. However, London had to undergo emergency sinus cavity surgery a few days prior, and was forced to miss the show. Styles would go on to win the Scramble and the titles with his new partner, The Amazing Red. London returned to action the following month on April 12. Before the show, London talked to Styles about the two of them being champions together, only to have Styles tell him he was going to continue to team with Red since they were the champions, angering London. Later that night, London defeated Bryan Danielson in a Two out of Three Falls match. The match was viewed by many as the best match in ROH history up to that point, and the show was even title The Epic Encounter in honor of it.
The following month at Night of the Grudges, London wrestled his first and, to date, only singles match with AJ Styles as the faced off for the Number One Contenders Trophy. The match ended in a double-pinfall, with London being awarded the trophy due to having a higher placing in ROH's Top Five ranking. A few weeks after the event, it was announced London had singed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. London wrestled his final Ring of Honor match at Death before Dishonor on July 19, challenging Samoa Joe for the ROH World Championship. Before the match, fans threw streamers at London, a tradition in Japan to show respect to the wrestlers. After failing to defeat Joe, London gave a farewell speech surrounded by the ROH locker room. In his final act as a Ring of Honor wrestler, London kissed the ROH letter on the ring canvas.
[edit] Mainstream and international success
In 2003, London made several appearances for the Japanese promotion, Pro Wrestling ZERO-1. He would also make a few appearances for Total Nonstop Action, based out of Nashville, Tennessee.
After signing with World Wrestling Entertainment in July 2003, London began training in their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling, before being called up to compete on SmackDown! in October. He would form a tag team with Spanky, who signed with the WWE in 2002, and the two would team until Spanky asked for his release in January. After the departure of Spanky, London formed a tag team with Billy Kidman, and the two would go on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The team would eventually spilt up, with Kidman turning heel and feuding with London. In 2005, London would win the WWE Championship and hold it for almost five months. Later in the year, London would reform his tag team with the rehired Spanky, now competing under his real name, Brian Kendrick. In May 2006, the two would win the WWE Tag Team Championship, and hold it for a record setting 331 days. The two would be drafted to Raw in June 2007, where they would continue to team for another year, until Kendrick was drafted back to SmackDown! London would be out with a back injury for much of 2008 before ultimately being released in November.
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- London Star Press (Shooting star press)
- Legsweep DDT
- Bridging fallaway slam
- Diving crossbody
- Dropsault
- Inverted atomic drop followed by a Frankensteiner
- Jumping heel kick enzuigiri
- Northern Lights suplex
- Somersault plancha
- Suicide dive
- Superkick
- Tornado DDT
- Theme music
- "South Texas Deathride" – The Union Underground
- "Pompeii" – E.S. Posthumus
- "Battle without Honor or Humanity" – Tomoyasu Hotei
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Capital of Texas Power Wrestling
- CTPW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- East Coast Wrestling Association
- ECWA Super 8 Tournament (2003)
- Extreme Texas Wrestling
- ETW Television Championship (1 time)
- Funking Conservatory
- FC United States Championship (1 time)
- FC Television Championship (1 time)
- FC Hardcore Championship (1 time)
- FC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Adam Windsor
- NWA Southwest
- NWA Texas Television Championship (1 time)
- Professional Championship Wrestling
- PCW Television Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked #36 in the PWI 500 for 2005
- Tag Team of the Year (2007) – with Brian Kendrick
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Billy Kidman (1), and Brian Kendrick (1)
- World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Kendrick
- Wrestling Observer
- Most Underrated Wrestler (2004)
[edit] Media
- Please Don't Die: The Best of Paul London
