Donald Haviland (December 7, 1973 – December 5, 2015) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or project ...

, Hack Meyers. He was best known for his time in

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

from 1993 to 1996.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1990–1993)

Haviland made his wrestling debut as Bronco Billy, forming a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

with Colt Starr known as The Texas Longhorns. He wrestled in independent promotions for the next three years before signing with Eastern Championship Wrestling.

Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1996, 1997, 1998)

Meyers first appeared in ECW at a joint-promotional event between ECW and Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation on November 14, 1993, where he defeated Trent Young. He began full-time wrestling for ECW by making his debut on the February 15, 1994 episode of '' Hardcore TV'' by losing to Mr. Hughes. He wrestled mainly on the

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

. He had several matches against ECW's biggest superstars at ECW supercards, but he was never able to defeat ECW's top talent. Haviland's gimmick in ECW was "The

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

of ECW", a fan favorite. During any exchange of blows, fans would chant "Shah!" every time he landed a punch or kick, and "Shit!" when his opponent retaliated. In 1994, Meyers' made his first major appearance at the

Ultimate Jeopardy Ultimate Jeopardy was a professional wrestling event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The event took place in 1994, 1996 and 1997. The 1995 event was scheduled for November 23, but was cancelled. The planned main event for that ...

event, where he teamed with

Don E. Allen Don Adelberg is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Don E. Allen (sometimes spelled Donn E. Allen). He is best known for his appearances with the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based promotion Eastern Championship Wrestlin ...

and Blue Max in a handicap match against

911 911 or 9/11 may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende * November 9 Numbers * 911 ...

, which 911 won. He wrestled Tommy Dreamer at

Hostile City Showdown Hostile City Showdown was a professional wrestling supercard event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media compan ...

, but was defeated. At

Heat Wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

, he teamed with Rockin' Rebel in a loss to

The Bad Breed The Bad Breed was the professional wrestling tag team of Axl Rotten with his storyline brother/real life protégé Ian Rotten. The team achieved their greatest fame in the Philadelphia professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wres ...

( Ian and

Axl Rotten Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by the ring name Axl Rotten, was an American professional wrestler. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag team The Bad Breed with Ian Rotten. He had a short stint with Wor ...

). This led to a series of matches between Meyers and Rebel, culminating in a showdown at Hardcore Heaven, which Meyers won. He faced

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestlin ...

in a losing effort at Holiday Hell. Meyers found some success in mid-1995, winning at back-to-back supercards. He defeated Big Malley at Hardcore Heaven and

Val Puccio Valentino Puccio (June 9, 1965 – January 7, 2011) was a professional wrestler best known under the ring names Val Puccio and Henchman and teaming with his brother Tony Pucci as "The Undertakers" and later as "Double Trouble". Professional wrestl ...

. He lost to JT Smith at Wrestlepalooza but followed this up with an evenly split series of rematches. Meyers faced the returning Sabu in a losing effort at November to Remember in one of the longest matches on the card. He followed this up with a victory over

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Easte ...

as well as supercard wins over Bruiser Mastino at December to Dismember and JT Smith at Holiday Hell 1995. He lost to Taz at the 1996 House Party and J.T. Smith at

Big Ass Extreme Bash Big Ass Extreme Bash was a professional wrestling doubleheader live event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) on the weekend of March 8 and March 9, 1996. The March 8 card was held in the Lost Battalion Hall in the Queens neighborhoo ...

. Meyers' final appearance in ECW for some time was a loss to

2 Cold Scorpio Charles Bernard Scaggs (born October 25, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name 2 Cold Scorpio (sometimes spelled Too Cold Scorpio). He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extrem ...

in a

Loser Leaves Town match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

at November to Remember. Meyers did return briefly to ECW, teaming with Balls Mahoney and

in a six man tag team match versus The Dudley Boyz at Born to Be Wired on August 9, 1997. Meyers would take the pinfall, losing after receiving a 3D. His last match in ECW was on November 27, 1998 on

ECW Hardcore TV ''ECW Hardcore TV'' is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the Philadelphia based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) composed of footage from live shows and recorded interviews. It ran in syndi ...

where he teamed with Balls Mahoney and

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ex ...

losing to the Dudley Boyz.

Late career (1997–2011)

After leaving ECW he remained in the wrestling industry, working for various promotions continuing using a hardcore style, including IPW, IWA Mid-South, FOW, MLW, and MCW, among others. In May 1997, Meyers worked at least two matches for

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

(WCW), losing to The Giant and The Barbarian. In May 1999, he appeared for one night in the WWF (

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

), teaming with Chris Nelson, facing

The Hardy Boyz The Hardys, also known as The Hardy Boyz, are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, who are currently appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The team is currently inactive due to J ...

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night ''WWF Shotgun Saturday Night'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired from January 4, 1997 through August 21, 1999 as a syndicated broadcast. ''Shotgun Saturday Night'' ...

. He also trained wrestlers, such as Scoot Andrews and

Travis Tomko Travis David Tomko (born March 23, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler, entrepreneur, best known for his tenures with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Tomko between 2006 and 2010. Prior to this, he worked for ...

. He wrestled predominantly in the Florida independent circuit in the latter days of his career. He retired in 2011.

Death

On November 15, 2015, fellow ECW alumnus Axl Rotten tweeted that Haviland would undergo

brain surgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and ...

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 ...

. On December 5, 2015, Haviland died from complications of that surgery. He was two days away from his 42nd birthday.

Championships and accomplishments

*Florida State Professional Wrestling Association **FSPWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) *Florida Wrestling Alliance **FWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Freestyle Championship Wrestling **FSCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * Future of Wrestling ** FOW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Dave Johnson *Hardkore Championship Wrestling **HCW Hardcore Championship (1 time) *Independent Professional Wrestling **IPW Hardcore Championship (1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **PWI ranked him #314 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1999 *Other titles **FWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyers, Hack 1973 births 2015 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Baltimore Professional wrestlers from Maryland