Charles Williams (January 13, 1966 – June 1, 2018) was an American

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 ...

, better known by his

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 ...

, Rockin' Rebel. He was best known for his appearances on the U.S.

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

with promotions such as

Eastern Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the p ...

, Atomic Championship Wrestling, Classic Championship Wrestling, 1CW (Delaware) and Valour Pro Wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Tri-State Wrestling Alliance

Williams trained as a professional wrestler under

The Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known a ...

(

Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. For most of his career, Morton has performed with Robert Gibson (wrestler), Robert Gibson as the Rock 'n' Roll ...

and Robert Gibson), debuting in December 1988 as Rockin' Rebel. In 1989 , Williams made a few appearances in 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, ...

losing to

The Honky Tonk Man Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1986 to 1991, where he performed under the ring name The Honky Tonk Ma ...

and

Brutus Beefcake Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring name Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Champ ...

. In 1990, Rockin' Rebel signed with the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based

Tri-State Wrestling Alliance Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

. While touring with the TWA, Rebel became the first Tri- State Champion and had memorable feuds with The Sandman, D. C. Drake, and C. N. Redd. He also teamed with Jimmy Jannetty to form The Confederacy. They became top contenders to the tag team titles and feuded with teams such as the Super Destroyers and The Blackharts. Despite its success, the TWA ceased operations abruptly in 1991. Rebel returned to the promotion in early 1993 after it had been renamed

(ECW). He appeared at ECW's inaugural supercard, the

Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular The Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular was a professional wrestling live event produced by NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on June 19, 1993. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The Supe ...

, in June 1993.

Independent circuit

Rockin' Rebel hit the independent circuit after leaving ECW in 1995. He then had a brief stint 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) and numerous dark matches with the then called

(WWF). He had successful tours of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

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 ...

before returning to the U.S. in 1996. Throughout the mid-1990s, Rebel and fellow ECW alum

Glen Osbourne Glen Osbourne (born June 5, 1971) is an American retired professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Eastern Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s, where he was the second ever, and the overall second youngest holder ...

formed a successful tag team known as Darkside. Together they won the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

-based

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation The Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation was a Mid-Atlantic independent professional wrestling promotion based in Essex, Maryland. Founded by promoter Dennis Wippercht and wrestler Tim "Lucifer" Burke in 1991, the MEWF was one of the leading independ ...

tag team titles five times, the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

-based International Pro Wrestling Association tag team titles twice, and appeared regularly for the NWA. On July 25, 2000, Rockin' Rebel debuted in

. He joined Lobo's Army and remained in the stable until it dissolved upon Lobo's retirement. He then formed a stable known as Rebel's Army with Derrick Frazier, Doomsday Danny Rose and former '' Tough Enough'' contestant Greg Matthews. Rebel and Matthews continued to team together in many promotions around the independent circuit such as PWF, 3PW, PWU, and World-1. Between 2003 and 2005, Rockin' Rebel made numerous appearances with

Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling, or 3PW, was a hardcore professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Considered an attempt at reviving Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), it ran many shows from the former ECW Arena. The promo ...

. He later wrestled for numerous independent federations, he wrestled his last match on May 10, 2014 for JCW in a losing effort against Q. T. Marshall. He was inducted into the DWF and IWPF halls of fame in 2012, and the ACW, MWF, and 1CW halls in 2014.

Personal life and death

In the 1990s, Williams was arrested for holding his wife Stephanie hostage in a closet with a firearm to her head, also threatening to kill himself. Williams died at home in West Chester in the early hours of June 1, 2018. On June 2, the West Goshen Township Police Department said he shot and killed his wife before shooting himself. His 10-year-old children found their bodies the next morning. On June 21, 2018, Kyros Law announced that Williams' family decided to donate his brain for CTE research.

Championships and accomplishments

*Atomic Championship Wrestling **ACW Heavyweight Championship (4 time) **ACW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Kitt and Heavy D *Blackball'd Wrestling Organization **BWO Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Greg Matthews *

CZW World Tag Team Championship The CZW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team Championship (professional wrestling), championship owned and copyrighted by the Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) professional wrestling promoti ...

( 1 time) - with Greg Matthews *Defiant Championship Wrestling **DCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Elite Generation Wrestling **EGW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Empire Wrestling Alliance **EWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * Independent Pro Wrestling Alliance ** IPWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

*Liberty All-Star Wrestling **LAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **LAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jimmy Jannetty *Lethal Wrestling Federation **LWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

MEWF Tag Team Championship This is a chronological list of MEWF tag team champions. The MEWF Tag Team Championship is the oldest championship title in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation having been established when the Lords of Darkness (Pain and Agony) defeated Cream Tea ...

( 3 times) - with Glen Osbourne *

NWA New Jersey NWA most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization * Northwest Arkansas, the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers metropolitan ...

**NWA North Jersey Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Northeast Wrestling **NEW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Northern States Wrestling Alliance **NSWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Nittany Valley Wrestling **NVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Premier Wrestling Federation **PWF Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** 3PW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Greg Matthews **3PW Tag Team Royal Rumble (2005) *Tri-State Wrestling Alliance **TWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Valour Professional Wrestling **Valour Tag Team Championship - with

Nyla Rose Brandi Hicks Degroat (born August 3, 1982), better known by the ring name Nyla Rose, is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is a one-time AEW Women's World Champion. Upon joining ...

*Virginia Wrestling Association **VWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **VWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Collett and Nick Thunderbird *

World Wide Wrestling Alliance The World Wide Wrestling Alliance (WWWA), previously known as NWA Ohio, was an American professional wrestling promotion. However, NWA Ohio Owner & Promoter Dave Nelson's claim of ownership of the WWWA name is disputed. History Founded by promo ...

**WWWA Television Championship (1 time) *

World Xtreme Wrestling World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) was a Florida-based independent circuit, independent professional wrestling promotion which has held events across the United States and toured in Japan, the Middle East and South Pacific region including American S ...

WXW Heavyweight Championship The WXW Heavyweight Championship is the top professional wrestling title in the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion. It was created in 1996 as the WSWF Heavyweight Championship under WXW's original name, the World Star Wrestling Federation. The prom ...

(1 time)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockin Rebel 1966 births 2018 deaths 2018 suicides 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers CZW World Tag Team Champions Murder–suicides in Pennsylvania Professional wrestlers from Philadelphia Suicides by firearm in Pennsylvania