Andrew Leavine (born December 27, 1987) is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. In 2011, Leavine won the Tough Enough contest to earn a contract with

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWE); he went on to wrestle for WWE's

developmental territory Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitos ...

Florida Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until ...

, under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

Kevin Hackman. He is also known for his appearances with

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC; Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha") is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Goril ...

(WWC), where he held the

WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship The WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#World championships, world heavyweight championship and the top title contested for in the Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican professional wrestlin ...

Early life

Leavine initially attended Central High School, but transferred to Springstead High School in November 2005 for the remainder of his senior year. Leavine was a two-sport athlete in high school, participating in

scholastic wrestling Scholastic wrestling, sometimes referred to as folkstyle wrestling and commonly known as simply wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling at the Secondary school, high school and middle school levels in the United States. It has often been label ...

and playing

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

. During high school, he also competed in track athletics and

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. At Central High, he played in all five

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

positions. Prior to transferring to Sprigstead, Leavine was the captain of the Central High School football team. At Springstead, Leavine was part of the wrestling team that won the Hernando County Athletic Conference trophy in December 2005, and that same season had a record of 33 wins and 4 losses, with 23 pins. Leavine then attended

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

(FIU) on a scholarship, where he continued to play football as an offensive lineman. He started all 12 FIU football games in his freshman year. During his sophomore year in 2007, Leavine broke a bone in his hand in a match against

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, but only missed one game the week following his injury, the only game he missed all season. He returned in the following game against the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

despite the injury. During his junior year, Leavine suffered an early season injury, but returned to the team as the

left guard In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an offensive line player who lines up between the center and the tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for blocking. Right ...

. He graduated from FIU in 2010, with a degree in Parks and Recreation. In April of that year, he was invited to rookie minicamp on a tryout basis with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. Leavine has stated that he was misled by the Dolphins, and left the team soon after signing. Following this, he considered joining the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

and playing in either the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

or the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

, but decided against it for financial reasons.

Professional wrestling career

In 2010, Leavine signed a developmental contract with

(WWE) and was assigned to the

(FCW), belonging to WWE's

. Under the

of Kevin Hackman, Leavine only took part in a couple of matches before being released in February 2011 to participate in '' Tough Enough''. In March 2011, Leavine was announced as one of the fourteen contestants for the revival of ''WWE Tough Enough''. Leavine was not regarded as one of the front runners at the beginning of the show but ended strongly and made it to the final two with Luke Robinson. He was announced as the winner of ''Tough Enough'' on the June 6 episode of '' Raw'' by

Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

who gave him a Stone Cold Stunner after being slapped by

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

, as a welcoming gift from the WWE. Leavine also appeared on ''Raw'' the following week, on June 13, in a backstage segment with Austin and

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand. Regarded as ...

. He then returned to FCW. Leavine confirmed in an interview on WWE's official website in June 2011 that he would be training in FCW. In April 2012, Leavine was released from WWE. After his release, Leavine started working for

(WWC), a wrestling territory in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

owned by

Carlos Colon Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

. On September 8, 2012, Leavine defeated Apolo and Gilbert in a three-way match to win the

. On October 26, 2012, he competed against

Wes Brisco Wesley Brisco (born February 21, 1983) is an American professional wrestler known for his time in Impact Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former member of Aces & Eights. He is a member of the Brisco wrestling family; the son of former Championshi ...

and Ray Fénix in a winning effort in a non-title match. He wrestled a Loser Leaves WWC Match against Wes Brisco to a no-contest after

Ray González Ramón González Rivera (born May 4, 1972), better known by his ring name Ray González, is a Puerto Rican Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and businessman. He has performed in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) and International Wres ...

interfered and attacked both of them at the same time. The following week, he lost to Brisco in an Anything Goes Loser Leaves WWC Match, which caused him to be ''

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

'' fired. On April 27, 2013, Leavine and Samson Walker defeated Thunder & Lighting, winning the WWC Tag Team Championship. On June 29, 2013, at Summer Madness, Samson and Leavine lost the Tag Team titles to The Sons of Samoa ( L.A. Smooth and Afa Jr.). At WWC 40 Aniversario, Leavine defeated Walker. Leavine retired from professional wrestling in 2014.

Personal life

Leavine is a cousin of

Dan Spivey Daniel Eugene Spivey (born October 14, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler best known under the ring names "Dangerous" Dan Spivey, Dangerous Dan, The Left Hand Man, Danny Spivey, Mr. America, and Waylon Mercy, initially working u ...

. Leavine has practiced both

jiu-jitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

since his time attending FIU. He was married and has two children.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) **

WWC World Tag Team Championship The WWC World Tag Team Championship is the tag team title contested for in the Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. History Abroad (2017) On February 11, 2017, Thunder and Lightning defended t ...

( 1 time) – with Samson Walker *

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

** Tough Enough V

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leavine, Andy 1987 births American male professional wrestlers FIU Panthers football players Living people People from Brooksville, Florida Professional wrestlers from Florida Tough Enough winners 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers WWC Universal Heavyweight Champions American football offensive linemen Players of American football from Florida WWC World Tag Team Champions