Franz Schumann is a retired
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n
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 was well known for his stint in
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 ...
.
Life and career
Born on 27 December 1960 in Linz, Austria, Franz Schumann had been a natural athlete, as he had won several national amateur wrestling championships in Austria. After a successful amateur career, he decided to become a professional wrestler, and he was trained by a legendary wrestler from
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
named Rene Lasartesse.
Schumann made his wrestling debut in 1985 for
Otto Wanz
Otto Wanz (; 13 June 1943 – 14 September 2017) was an Austrian professional wrestler and boxer. He made his professional wrestling debut in 1968. He is a one time American Wrestling Association champion and former operator of the Catch ...
'
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 ...
, where he would spend much of his career there. He would be solely a singles wrestler, until 1989, when he started getting in tag team matches with Wanz,
Dave Taylor, and
Steve Wright, among others, as his partners. It was in August 1990, that he won his first championship, the
CWA World Tag Team Championship with
Mile Zrno, defeating
Dave Finlay
David John Finlay (, born 31 January 1958) is a Northern Irish former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a trainer and assistant coach at the Performance Center, as well as a producer. He is best known for his tenures with World Cha ...
and
Marty Jones. He and Zrno would hold the titles until December 1991, when they lost the titles to Dave Taylor and
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael Benoit ( ; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, but is notorious for Chris Benoit double-murd ...
.
In February 1991, Schumann wrestled a tour with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
(NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
, his first time outside of Europe. While in NJPW, he wrestled with the likes of
Hiroshi Hase
is a Japanese politician and semi-retired professional wrestler who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. As a professional wrestler, Hase primarily worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and also for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJ ...
,
Osamu Kido,
Shinya Hashimoto
was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the " Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the p ...
, and
Keiji Mutoh
is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and duri ...
.
After losing the tag team titles, Schumann refocused and became a singles wrestler. In July 1992, he defeated Fit Finlay to win his first
CWA World Middleweight Championship. He would vacate the title in December 1992, focusing on his match against
Jyushin Thunder Liger, later that month. In July 1993, he regained the CWA Middleweight Championship, defeating
Eddie Gilbert in a tournament final. His second reign as Middleweight champion lasted nearly a year, before
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 ...
upset him for the title. However, Schumann rebounded and regained the title nearly two weeks later. A year later, he became a double champion, when he defeated
Tony St. Clair to win the
CWA British Commonwealth Championship. Three months later, he lost the Middlweight title to
Paul Roma
Paul Centopani (born April 29, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler and boxer, better known by his ring name Paul Roma. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling between 1984 ...
. By the end of 1995, he also lost the British Commonwealth title back to St. Clair.
In 1996, Schumann returned to NJPW, to participate in the
Best of the Super Juniors tournament, which was won by
Black Tiger II. He was in 4th place in Block A.
After his Japanese tour, Schumann immediately returned to the CWA. In July 1996, he won his fourth and final CWA World Middleweight title, defeating Fit Finlay. In February 1998, he wrestled in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, to challenge
Dan Severn
Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Beast", is an American retired professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of ...
for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...
. Severn won the match and retained the title.
In April 1999, while wrestling for Otto Wanz and the CWA, Schumann opened up a
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
territory in Germany, called NWA Germany. As CWA shut down in December 1999, Schumann was free to run his NWA territory full-time in Germany and Austria. He would also wrestle for other German and Austrian promotions as well, making him one of the hardest-working wrestlers in Europe.
However, injuries from his amateur and pro careers were catching up to him, to the point that he couldn't perform at the level he wanted to be. He wrestled his retirement match on October 18, 2002, teaming with Günther Wagner, defeating Aykut Artan and Barish Günay. Upon retiring, Schumann shut down NWA Germany.
In June 2011, Schumann made a one-night return to the ring against fellow former CWA alumnus Karsten Kretschmer, in which he lost via disqualification.
In September 2017, Schumann came out of retirement to wrestle for various independent promotions throughout CWA's former territory in Germany and Austria, until he completely retired on 5 July 2019, when he wrestled
Der Söldner to a no contest.
Retirement
In 2008, Schumann started to suffer a series of health problems, including a stroke and his kidneys were failing. He is currently under dialysis to maintain control of his kidneys.
Championships and accomplishments
*
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 ...
**
CWA British Commonwealth Championship (
1 time)
**
CWA World Middleweight Championship (
4 times, final)
**
CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with
Mile Zrno
**Graz Catch Cup (1997)
*National Wrestling Alliance Germany (NWA Germany)
**NWA Germany Championship (1 time)
References
External links
WrestlingData profileCagematch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schumann, Franz
1960 births
Living people
Austrian male professional wrestlers
Sportspeople from Linz
CWA World Middleweight Champions
CWA World Tag Team Champions
CWA British Commonwealth Champions