Derrick Dukes (born January 4, 1965) 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 ...

and

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. He best known for his appearances in the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

in the late-1980s as one-half of the

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 ...

"The Top Guns" with

Ricky Rice Ricky Rice is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearanceas with the Minneapolis-based promotions Pro Wrestling America and the American Wrestling Association. Professional wrestling career Early career Trai ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1986–1988)

Dukes and Rice, who had formerly competed in

Eddie Sharkey Eddie Sharkey (born February 4, 1936) is an American former professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer, widely recognized as "the Trainer of Champions". Eddie Sharkey began his career as a wrestler in the 1950s, but it is his contributions ...

Pro Wrestling America Pro Wrestling America is an independent wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, MN during the 1980s and early 1990s. Founded and promoted by retired wrestler Eddie Sharkey, a longtime veteran of the American Wrestling Association and owner of t ...

in Minnesota, were one of several brought into central Canada by promoter Tony Condello in 1986.

American Wrestling Association (1988–1989)

While in the AWA, Rice and Dukes feuded with

Badd Company Badd Company was a professional wrestling tag team in the American Wrestling Association in the late 1980s, which later went by the name the Orient Express. They used the song "Bad Company", by the band of the same name as their theme song. His ...

over the AWA tag team titles but broke up shortly after appearing at ''

SuperClash III SuperClash III was the third SuperClash professional wrestling event produced by the American Wrestling Association (AWA). The event was held on December 13, 1988, from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. It was the only AWA show to be broadcast on pay-p ...

'' with

Wendi Richter Victoria "Wendi" Richter (born September 8, 1960) is an American former professional wrestler. She began her professional wrestling career in companies such as the National Wrestling Alliance, where she teamed with Joyce Grable, with whom she ...

in a mixed 6-person tag team match against Badd Company and

Madusa Miceli Debrah Ann Miceli (born February 9, 1963), better known as Madusa, is an American monster truck driver and retired professional wrestler. She is currently signed to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as a producer. In professional wrestling Mice ...

on December 13, 1988. After participating in the "Superstars of Wrestling" tour of Europe in early 1988, Dukes then feuded with

Colonel DeBeers Edward Wiskoski (January 10, 1945 – January 22, 2025) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances in the American Wrestling Association under the ring name Colonel DeBeers from 1985 to 1990. Early life Wiskos ...

in 1989 and lost a "Loser Gets Painted Yellow" match at ''War in the Windy City'', however the controversial nature of the match caused it to be subsequently cut from the televised broadcast.

Various promotions (1989–1992)

After AWA folded, Dukes would return to Pro Wrestling America where he lost to the Lightning Kid in a match for the PWA Iron Horse Television Championship on April 20, 1990.

Catch Wrestling Association (1992)

In 1992, Dukes wrestled in Germany and Austria with the

Catch Wrestling Association The Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) was a professional wrestling organization based in Austria and Germany that was founded as the Internationalen Berufsringer Verbandes (IBV) in 1973. Since the late 1980s it has been known as the CWA in honour ...

Late career (1992–2001)

In 1995, he returned to Pro Wrestling America and teamed with former

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 ...

wrestler

Charlie Norris Charles Norris (October 21, 1963 – February 6, 2023) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993. He spent the majority of his career in Minnesota-based Pro Wrestling Ame ...

as "Thunderblood" winning the PWA Tag Team titles from the Storm Troopers and remained tag team champions until the promotion's closure in early 1996. In 1999 he toured Japan with Worldwide Pro Wrestling. In August 1999 he worked a few matches in the WWF. He lost to

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

in a dark match for

Sunday Night Heat ''WWE Heat'' (formerly known as ''Sunday Night Heat'' and also known as ''Heat'') is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and aired from August 2, 1998 to May 30, 2008. Or ...

. He appeared TV twice on

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 Nigh ...

episode August 21 with Tony DeNucci losing to Mideon and

Viscera In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...

and the very first episode of Jakked August 28 teaming with Scotty Zappa losing to Blue Meanie and

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and media personality. Since June 2024, Richards has hosted ''#The Stevie Richard ...

. Dukes retired in 2001.

Boxing career

Dukes pursued a career in boxing for a brief period during the early 1990s. His most famous bout came against former

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 ...

All Pro

Mark Gastineau Marcus Dell Gastineau (born November 20, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for 10 seasons with the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). During his NFL career, he was named Defensiv ...

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combine ...

on June 8, 1991. Gastineau knocked Dukes out in the first round of the fight, however it was later found out that Dukes took a

dive Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

. In 1999, Dukes lost to Innocent Otukuwu in

Lula, Mississippi Lula is a town in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 204. History The town of Lula was chartered by the state of Mississippi on February 24, 1890 and platted a few years prior, when the Louis ...

on July 31, and Chris Brown in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

on September 7, in an attempt at a comeback.

Championships and accomplishments

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 Television Championship The WWC Television Championship is a tertiary championship that is currently defended in the World Wrestling Council. The title was initially created in 1986 and used until 2003, then from February 3, 2007 until July 11, 2008. The title was brought ...

( 1 time) *International Wrestling Association **IWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** PWA Iron Horse Television Championship ( 3 times) **

PWA Tag Team Championship PWA may refer to: Aviation * Wiley Post Airport (IATA airport code), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. * Pacific Western Airlines Computing * Pirates with Attitudes, a warez release group * Picasa Web Albums * Progressive web app * Project Web Acces ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with

and

*''

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 ...

'' ** PWI ranked him # 153 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1991 *St. Paul Championship Wrestling **SCW Northern States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dukes, Derrick 1965 births 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century African-American people African-American boxers African-American professional wrestlers American male boxers American male professional wrestlers Boxers from Ohio Living people People from Barberton, Ohio Professional wrestlers from Ohio WWC Television Champions