Jerome Saganowich (born July 5, 1964) is an American professional wrestler best known by his wrestling name Jerry Sags. He is a member 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 Nasty Boys with partner and long-time friend Brian Knobbs.

Early life and education

Sags was born July 5, 1964, in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

. He attended and graduated from Whitehall High School in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

region of eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. While at Whitehall High School, Sags met Brian Knobbs. The two became friends and went on to establish The Nasty Boys in 1986.

Career

Sags started his American Wrestling Association career as a referee in 1985. In 1986, he and high school friend Brian Knobbs formed The Nasty Boys, a tag team that initially wrestled out of

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 ...

. The team moved to

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 ...

, where they won the Tag Team Titles five times from 1988 through 1990. On June 1, 1990 Sags received an tryout with the World Wrestling Federation, falling to

Tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

on a house show in Fort Myers, FL. In 1990, the Nasty Boys went to

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 ...

, but left a few months later. They feuded with Rick and Scott Steiner over the U.S. Tag Team Titles, but could not defeat them. In late 1990, they moved to the World Wrestling Federation, where they were managed by

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician. He is signed to WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in WWE when it was still known as the World Wrestling ...

. They won the World Tag Team titles from the

Hart Foundation The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling ...

before feuding with and losing the titles to the

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Superfriends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...

. Knobbs and Sags then feuded with all of the WWF's top face tag teams, including The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. They turned

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

in the fall of 1992 to feud with Jimmy Hart's Money Inc. over the tag team titles, but were unable to recapture the gold. They left the WWF for WCW in 1993 and were managed by Missy Hyatt, who helped lead them to world tag team titles. Hyatt later resigned as their manager, and they went on to feud with Harlem Heat, The Blue Bloods, and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. In 1996, they were tricked by the nWo into thinking they were going to become members, but were attacked as soon as they received their shirts. Sags had been injured previously and retired as a result of the injury. Sags later returned to wrestling in 2001 as a trainer and with Knobbs as The Nasty Boys to wrestle in the short-lived

X Wrestling Federation The X Wrestling Federation (XWF) (later referred to as the Xcitement Wrestling Federation) was an American professional wrestling promotion that operated from 2001 to 2002. The previous number two and three American promotions, World Champions ...

and the

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 ...

in Puerto Rico. He retired again after the promotion folded in 2002. but returned with Knobbs to reform The Nasty Boys on June 16, 2007, at ''Pro Wrestling Unplugged''. On November 20, 2007, The Nasty Boys competed at the ''

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

'' tapings from

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, wrestling in their first WWE match in years. The match was disastrous, and the team was accused of being unprofessionally stiff with their opponents, Dave Taylor and

Drew McIntyre Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June, 1985) is a Scottish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. Galloway began ...

. On January 4, 2010, The Nasty Boys made an appearance on

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

's ''

TNA Impact! ''TNA Impact!'' (stylized as ''TNA iMPACT!'') is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) that debuted on June 4, 2004. It also features wrestlers from WWE's ...

'', feuding with Team 3D. On the January 21 edition of ''Impact!,'' the Nasty Boys competed in their first match for TNA, defeating the team of Eric Young and

Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is also known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Ac ...

. At Against All Odds, The Nasty Boys defeated Team 3D in a tag team match, when Jimmy Hart made his return to the company and interfered in the match on the Nasty Boys' behalf. On the February 25 edition of ''Impact!'', Team 3D defeated The Nasty Boys in a

tables match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

with Jesse Neal interfering on Team 3D's behalf. The Nasty Boys and Hart continued their feud with Team 3D, defeating them and the returning Brother Runt, a replacement for Jesse Neal who The Nastys attacked prior to a six-man tag team match. After the match, Neal attacked the Nastys and helped Team 3D throw Sags through a table. On March 29, 2010, The Nasty Boys were released by TNA following an incident at a TNA function attended by

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

executives.

Personal life

Sags and his wife Laura have four children, daughters Chloe and Madison, and sons Seve and Jax. They reside in Treasure Island, Florida near Brian Knobbs and

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

. Sags's sister-in-law Michelle was married to the late pro wrestler

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance ...

. In 2011, Sags appeared in an episode of '' Man vs. Food'' in the show's

episode, where he won his challenge.

Championships and accomplishments

* Cauliflower Alley Club ** Tag Team Award (2023) – with Brian Knobbs * Championship Wrestling International ** CWI Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs *

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ...

** AWA Southern Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) – with Brian Knobbs * North American Wrestling Association / South Atlantic Pro Wrestling ** NAWA/SAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs * NWA Florida ** FCW Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) – with Brian Knobbs *

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 Tag Team of the Year award in 1994 – with Brian Knobbs ** PWI ranked him # 420 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 ** PWI ranked him # 53 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Brian Knobbs in 2003. * Professional Wrestling Federation ** PWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs *

WCW World Tag Team Championship The WCW World Tag Team Championship, originally known as the NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'', was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling ...

( 3 times) – with Brian Knobbs * World Wrestling Federation ** WWF Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Brian Knobbs *

** XWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Knobbs

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sags, Jerry 1964 births Living people 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers New World Order (professional wrestling) members NWA Florida Tag Team Champions People from Treasure Island, Florida Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania American professional wrestling referees Sportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania WCW World Tag Team Champions Whitehall High School (Pennsylvania) alumni World Tag Team Champions (WWE, 1971–2010)