Chad A. Fortune (born August 13, 1967) is an American former

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock p ...

driver,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and

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 both 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) and

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).

Football career

Fortune played

at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

from 1986 to 1989. In 1987, he appeared in 11 games and recorded 16 receptions for 204 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. In 1988, he appeared in 11 games and recorded 35 receptions for 339 yards and four touchdowns. In 1989, he appeared in 11 games and recorded 30 receptions for 353 yards. He was a 1989 first team All-South Independent, 1988 Second team All-South Independent Following his college career he signed an undrafted free agent contract with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

but was released prior to the start of the 1990 season. Fortune spent time on the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of both 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 ...

and Colts during the 1990 season. He competed in the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

1991

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, but the team released him to clear a roster spot for Kenny Jackson. Fortune was signed at various points of 1992 preseason, with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. He was on the Bears practice squad at the start of the 1992 season, missing some time due to an allergic reaction caused by a bee sting. He was promoted to the main roster, and spent part of the 1992 season as the team's third string tight end. Fortune was also a starting tight end for the Frankfurt Galaxy during both their

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

seasons.

Professional wrestling

World Wrestling Federation

Fortune joined the

(WWF) 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 ...

Travis and teamed with college teammate

Erik Watts Erik Watts (born December 19, 1967) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s. He is the son of wrestler Bill Watts. ...

(as Troy) as Tekno Team 2000. Wearing silver smocks and tight zubaz, their

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand out ...

was that they represented the cutting edge of cyberculture. Their tag team made its debut on the May 27, 1995 episode of ''

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * "Superstar" Krishna (1943–2022), Indian film actor, director and producer in Telugu cinema * "Superstar" Mahesh Babu (born 1975), Indian actor * ...

'' in a victorious effort against Brooklyn Brawler and

Barry Horowitz Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his time in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Early life Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied spo ...

. They wrestled two more matches on television the following month before disappearing from television until July 1995 for the

In Your House In Your House was a series of professional wrestling supercard events created by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The events originally aired on pay-per-view (PPV) from May 1995 to February 1999 when the promotion w ...

pay-per-view acting as lumberjacks for the main event. After the pay-per-view they disappeared off of television for a year being sent to

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...

(USWA), only to resurface back on WWF television in 1996. They got a WWF Tag Team title shot against

The Bodydonnas The Bodydonnas were a professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the mid-1990s, consisting of Chris Candido as Skip, Candido's real-life girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch as Sunny, and Tom Prichard as Skip's kayfabe cousi ...

World Championship Wrestling

Fortune signed a

(WCW) contract in 1997. He wrestled mainly on the taped shows such as ''

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 ...

'' and ''

WCW Worldwide ''WCW WorldWide'' is an American syndicated television show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that aired from October 8, 1975, to March 31, 2001. At the time of its cancellation, ''WorldWide'' was the longest-running, unin ...

''. He made his WCW debut on the June 24 episode of WCW Saturday Night in a loss to

Joey Maggs Joseph Magliano (September 29, 1967 – October 15, 2006), better known by the ring name "Jumping" Joey Maggs, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1991 to 199 ...

. Fortune is also known as the first wrestler to defeat

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...

in a singles match on July 24, 1997, albeit in a dark match on Saturday Night before Goldberg's television debut. He and

Dale Torborg Dale Christian Torborg (born October 24, 1971) is an American baseball trainer and professional wrestler. In wrestling, he is best known for portraying the Kiss themed character, The Demon. He is the son of Major League Baseball manager Jeff Torb ...

were briefly a tag team known as "The Pit Crew". He would barely perform throughout 1998, returning in early 1999 before again being taken off TV. His last WCW match would come on July 8, 1999, in a loss to The Barbarian. Fortune was one of many wrestlers released by WCW in October 1999.

Monster trucks

In 2000, SFX Entertainment (recently

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

, now

Feld Entertainment Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before expanding into additional live events, including Disney on ...

) signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling to bring WCW-based trucks to their

USHRA The United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) was an organization that sanctioned various motorsports. These included the Monster Jam monster truck series as well as motocross, All-terrain vehicle, quad racing and others. Having passed through mult ...

Monster Jam Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some addition ...

series, which gave Fortune, through wrestling, his start in monster trucks. He was initially an unnamed "spokesman" for the nWo truck, who would give antagonistic interviews while the driver, Rob Knell, acted as being focused on the truck. Many in the industry were vocal against the use of professional wrestling gimmicks for drivers, and the truck only lasted one season. The following year, Fortune began driving the

WCW Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United ...

Machine truck in the winter season, then bounced around trucks during the summer.Chad Fortune Monster Jam bio
/ref> He gave

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spen ...

a ride in the WCW Nitro truck and the two became friends. In 2002, Malone signed a deal with SFX/ Clear Channel to create a truck called Power Forward. Fortune was chosen as the driver and drove the truck for three years, reaching the World Finals in 2002 and 2003.Monsterjamonline
In 2005, Fortune brought to the table the idea of the

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

truck. The company created the new truck. Based on his professional wrestling background, he decided to dye his hair black and alter his look to match the character of

. He was successful in the Superman truck, and made the final rounds of several stadium events. He was then given the "Most Improved Driver" award for 2005. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 Monster Jam Seasons, Fortune drove the new

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

truck, one of the two

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

themed trucks coming back onto the circuit along with Alex Blackwell who was to drive

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

. In the 2015 season, Fortune initiated the idea of the "Soldier Fortune" truck honoring the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

. As of 2024, the truck is still running, with a different driver named Kayla Blood (since she served as the Louisiana National Guard). In 2019, Fortune announced his retirement from

References

External links

Chad Fortune
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Chad 1967 births Living people American football tight ends Louisville Cardinals football players Indianapolis Colts players Miami Dolphins players Philadelphia Eagles players Frankfurt Galaxy players Washington Redskins players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players American male professional wrestlers Monster truck drivers Players of American football from Roswell, Georgia 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state)