Bobby Walker is an American former

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 ...

who is best known for his appearances in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (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 National W ...

(WCW) from 1992 until 2000.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1989–1992)

Walker made his professional debut in 1989. Wrestling as Hurricane Walker in 1990, he challenged for the

NWA Florida Tag Team Championship The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...

; teaming with

Brian Knobbs Brian Knobbs (born Brian Yandrisovitz on May 6, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and half of The Nasty Boys, a tag team, with partner and long-time friend Jerry Sags. Early life and education Knobbs was born on May 6, 1964, in Alle ...

, he competed for the vacant title against Robert Fuller and

Kendall Windham Kendall Wayne Windham (born December 15, 1967) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling. He is the son of Blackjack Mulligan and the brother of Barry Windham. Professional wr ...

but was unable to win the title. When it was vacated again, he paired with

Joe Gomez Joseph Dave Gomez (born 23 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Liverpool and the England national team. Gomez began his career at Charlton Athletic, breaking into the first team at 17 and playi ...

in another unsuccessful attempt to win the championship. He and Tim Parker won the championship belts in late 1990 by defeating Sgt. Rock and

Mark Starr Mark Ashford-Smith (26 December 1962 – 7 June 2013), best known by his ring name Mark Starr, was an English professional wrestler. Early life Mark Ashford-Smith was born in Staffordshire on 26 December 1962. His older brother Chris was also a ...

but soon dropped the title to Sgt. Rock and

Ron Slinker David Ronald Slinker (October 30, 1945 – March 28, 2008), better known by his ring name, Ron Slinker, was an American professional wrestler and martial artist who competed in several North American promotions. Early life Slinker began study ...

. Walker made brief appearances with

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...

in July 1991, the

World Wrestling Federation 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, ...

(WWF) in November 1991, and the International Championship Wrestling Alliance in 1992. In 1991, he was rated number 354 in ''

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

''s annual ranking of the top 500 wrestlers in the world; the following year, he was ranked at number 365. He later trained at the

WCW Power Plant The WCW Power Plant was a professional wrestling school in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a subsidairy of WarnerMedia, Time Warner. The school was founded by wrestler Jody Hamilton, who ope ...

, a training facility operated by WCW.

World Championship Wrestling (1992–2000)

Walker made his

debut in 1992 under the name Robbie Walker. Originally he was scheduled to team with

Ron Simmons Ronald K. Simmons (born May 15, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler and Gridiron football, football player. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Prior to becoming a professional wrestler ...

at the

Clash of the Champions XXI ''Clash of the Champions'' is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that were produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). ...

against Cactus Jack,

Tony Atlas Anthony White (born April 23, 1954) better known by his ring name Tony Atlas, is an American bodybuilder, Powerlifting, powerlifter, and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. ...

, and The Barbarian in a handicap match, but was injured and was replaced by the debuting

2 Cold Scorpio Charles Bernard Scaggs (born October 25, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio. He gained fame for his performances in professional wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW ...

. After nearly a year recovering and working house shows for WCW, he returned under the name Bobby Walker and appeared in a televised match as part of 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 establis ...

with Jason Johnson in a loss to

Harlem Heat Harlem Heat was a professional wrestling tag team composed of two brothers, Booker and Lash Huffman (better known as Booker T and Stevie Ray). The team achieved their greatest success in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where they won the WCW ...

on the January 8, 1994, episode of ''WCW Saturday Night''. Starting in 1995, he was known as "'Hardwork' Bobby Walker", and he was managed by

Teddy Long Theodore Robert Rufus Long (born September 15, 1947) is an American former professional wrestling referee, manager and authority figure best known for his tenures in NWA, WCW and WWE. Long began his career in the National Wrestling Alliance a ...

. Walker competed as a jobber to the stars on WCW's lower-tier programming while winning occasional bouts against enhancement talent. He wrestled his only pay-per-view match at World War 3 in 1995 as one of sixty men in a three-ring

battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

that was won by

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

. Walker was chosen to team with The Barbarian at Slamboree 1996 for the Lethal Lottery, but was injured by

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...

on a

WCW Saturday Night ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarn ...

, Walker was replaced by

Diamond Dallas Page } Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), is an American fitness instructor, actor, and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Di ...

, who would eventually win the battle royal. He defeated

Billy Kidman Peter Alan Gruner Jr.(born May 11, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He works for WWE, where he is a producer. As a wrestler, Kidman is best known for his work with World Championsh ...

in a

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...

Bash at the Beach Bash at the Beach was a yearly professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It was the company's PPV for the month of July, held from 1994–2000. As the title implied, the show centered on a b ...

. In August, Walker teamed with Mr. J.L. in a dark match at Clash of the Champions XXXIII in which they were defeated by

The Nasty Boys The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags. The team were active from the mid-1980s through the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and ...

. Walker remained with the company until his release in February 2000.

Personal life

Walker is the nephew of former professional wrestler

Thunderbolt Patterson Claude Patterson (born July 8, 1941) is an American retired professional wrestler, known by his ring name Thunderbolt Patterson. He began his career in 1964 and wrestled primarily in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. During the early 1970s, he ...

. In 2000, Walker,

Sonny Onoo Kazuo Onoo (born July 29, 1962) is a Japanese-American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, and actor better known by his ring name Sonny Onoo ( ). He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestli ...

, Hardbody Harrison, and several other performers filed a lawsuit against WCW, alleging racial discrimination. Walker stated that his

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

opponents were told to make him look bad and that he was told that he would never hold a championship belt. He also stated that he was paid less than many of the company's Caucasian wrestlers. The suit also stated that African-American wrestlers were made to look "loud, obnoxious, pompous and shiftless". On April 3, 2001, a judge ruled that WCW had not committed fraud or breached the contracts of the plaintiffs, and that the discrimination lawsuit could proceed. Because the

(WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment, had purchased WCW after the lawsuit was filed, Walker's lawyer stated that the plaintiffs would pursue legal action against the WWF. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.

Championships and accomplishments

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida professional wrestling promotion, wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it close ...

PWF Tag Team Championship The Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship in All Japan Pro Wrestling, created in 1984. It was unified with the NWA International Tag Team Championship in 1988, to create ...

( 1 time) - with Tim Parker

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Bobby African-American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Professional wrestlers from North Carolina Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers NWA Florida Tag Team Champions