Jon Andersen-Reel, normally referred to simply as Jon Andersen (born January 8, 1972) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuse ...

, and former professional strongman competitor. Andersen has wrestled for Pro Wrestling Revolution based in California,

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

(CMLL) in Mexico and Japanese promotions Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority share ...

(NJPW).

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2003-2009)

Andersen trained for his professional wrestling career in the All Pro Wrestling (APW) Bootcamp, making his debut in 2003. From 2003 until 2007 he wrestled only part-time to focus on his bodybuilding and strongman career and primarily for APW. By 2008 he began making regular appearances for California-based Pro Wrestling Revolution (PWR) promotion as a "Special feature" due to his enormous size. He also worked tours of Japan, wrestling for

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homage ...

's Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) in both 2008 and 2009. He received further training between 2008 and 2009 in Pro Wrestling Revolution by Vaquero Fantasma to prepare him for his work in Mexico.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2009–2011)

In September 2009, Andersen signed a contract to wrestle for the

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

based

(CMLL) promotion and made his debut for the company on October 5, 2009 using the name "Jon Strongman". The storyline used to introduce Jon Strongman to CMLL was that Shocker found him while on tour with Pro Wrestling Revolution as the first member of his faction ''Los Guapos'' ("The good looking ones"). In his debut Strongman teamed with Shocker and

Héctor Garza Héctor Solano Segura (June 12, 1969 – May 26, 2013) was a Mexican professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Héctor Garza. During his career he worked for various major Mexican professional wrestling promotions such as Consejo Mu ...

to defeat

El Terrible Damián Gutiérrez Hernández (born April 12, 1976), better known by his ring name El Terrible, is a Mexican professional wrestler who currently works for the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a ''rud ...

, El Texano, Jr. and Ray Mendoza, Jr. In the months after his debut Strongman began a storyline feud with

Último Guerrero José Gutiérrez Hernández (born March 1, 1972), better known by his ring name Último Guerrero (Spanish for ''Last Warrior''), is a Mexican (or professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He is not related ...

, holder of the

CMLL World Heavyweight Championship The CMLL World Heavyweight Championship ( es, Campeonato Mundial de Peso Completo del CMLL) is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship established in 1991 and promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). CMLL introduced the ...

. The storyline heated up after Último Guerrera was accidentally knocked unconscious during a match with Jon Strongman and CMLL decided to write it into the storyline between the two. Strongman appeared at CMLL's Sin Salida event on December 4, 2009 teaming with

Místico Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde (born December 22, 1982), better known by his ring name Místico (Spanish for "Mystic"), is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler), who currently works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha ...

and Héctor Garza to defeat Guerrero,

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that bes ...

and Mr. Niebla, his first appearance at a major CMLL event. On March 1, 2010 Strong Man defeated Último Guerrero in the main event of a

Puebla, Puebla Puebla de Zaragoza (; nah, Cuetlaxcoapan), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known in English simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city ...

show, after which último Guerrero offered to defend his championship against Jon Strongman. A title match has not yet been announced between the two.

Lucha Libre USA (2011–2013)

On November 20, 2010 Strong Man teamed with Misterioso II to defeat Vaquero Fantasma and Oliver John for the PWR Tag Team Championship, Andersen's first professional wrestling title. On January 22, 2011, Andersen made his debut for Lucha Libre USA. In the promotion he performs under the ring name "The Firewall" Jon Rekon and represents ''

rudo Rudo ( sr-cyrl, Рудо) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 7,963 inhabitants, while the town of Rudo has a population of 1,949 inhabitants. It is f ...

'' group The Right. On June 18, 2011, Rekon and his stablemate in The Right, Petey Williams, defeated the Latin Liberators (

Rocky Romero John R. Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed non-exclusively to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロ� ...

and Super Nova) to win the vacant LLUSA Tag Team Championship.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2010–2013)

On March 14, 2010, Andersen, billed as Strong Man, entered

's (NJPW) 2010 New Japan Cup, but was defeated in the first round by

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

. On July 11 New Japan announced that Strong Man would return to the company in August to take part in the 2010 G1 Climax tournament. After winning two out of his seven matches in the tournament, Strong Man finished seventh out of the eight wrestlers in his block and didn't advance in the tournament. On October 22, 2010, Inoue and Nagata entered the

2010 G1 Tag League __NOTOC__ The is a professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a spin-off of the popular singles tournament, the G1 Climax. It was created in 1991 as the Super Grade Tag League, as a continuation of ...

. Strong Man returned to New Japan in late October 2010 to team with

Manabu Nakanishi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler, who was primarily associated with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, one-time G1 Climax winner and three-time IWGP Tag Team Ch ...

in the

. After four wins and a loss, Strong Man and Nakanishi, known collectively as Muscle Orchestra, finished second in their block and advanced to the semifinals, where, on November 7, they were defeated by No Limit (

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the '' Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction. Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Ani ...

and

Yujiro Takahashi , is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its sub-group House of Torture. Takahashi entered New Japan in November 2003 with an extensive amateur back ...

). In recognition of their achievement,

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of ...

named Strong Man and Nakanishi the Tag Team of the Year for 2010. On January 4, 2011, Muscle Orchestra returned to New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, where they unsuccessfully challenged Bad Intentions ( Giant Bernard and

Karl Anderson Chad Allegra (born January 20, 1980), better known by the ring name Karl Anderson, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand. He ...

) for the

IWGP Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. ...

in a three–way match, which also included Beer Money, Inc. (

James Storm James Allen Cox (born June 1, 1977) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name James Storm. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling. He started his career in 1997 and after working on several independent prom ...

and

Robert Roode Robert Francis Roode Jr. (born May 11, 1976) is a Canadian professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is currently inactive due to undergoing neck surgery. Roode is known for his 12-year tenure for Total Nonsto ...

). On February 20 at The New Beginning, Muscle Orchestra received another shot at Bad Intentions and the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but were unable to win the title. In August, Strong Man returned to New Japan to take part in the

2011 G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winner ...

. After losing his first seven matches, Strong Man finished the tournament by picking up big wins over

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a freelancer. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as twice hol ...

and

Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is also known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishi ...

, although still finishing last in his block. Strong Man returned to New Japan on October 22 to take part in the 2011 G1 Tag League, forming the tag team Muscle Pavilion with

Tama Tonga Alipate Aloisio Leone (born October 15, 1982) is a Tongan-American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Tama Tonga (タマ・トンガ　''Tama Tonga''). He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known a ...

as his regular partner Manabu Nakanishi was sidelined with an injury. After one win and four losses, the team was eliminated from the tournament. Strong Man started his next tour with New Japan on April 21, 2012. Strong Man returned to New Japan on October 8, 2012, at King of Pro-Wrestling to take part in Manabu Nakanishi's return match, where the two and

Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professio ...

were defeated by Takashi Iizuka,

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ...

and Toru Yano. From November 20 to December 1, Muscle Orchestra reunited to take part in the round-robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League, finishing with a record of two wins and four losses, finishing second to last in their group. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Strong Man teamed with Nakanishi, Akebono and MVP in an eight-man tag team match, where they defeated Chaos (

Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined ...

, Takashi Iizuka, Toru Yano and Yujiro Takahashi). On May 3 at

Wrestling Dontaku 2013 Wrestling Dontaku 2013 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3, 2013, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. The event featured ten matches (includ ...

, Strong Man and Nakanishi received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a four-way match with the defending champions, K.E.S. (

Lance Archer Lance Hoyt (born February 28, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Lance Archer. He also makes sporadic appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known for ...

and Davey Boy Smith, Jr.), as well as Chaos (Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano) and

Tencozy Tencozy (occasionally spelled "Ten-Koji") is a professional wrestling tag team that has competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. They are seven-time tag team champions ( six-time IWGP Tag Team Champions and one-time NWA W ...

(

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and th ...

and

Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wre ...

). Kojima pinned Strong Man to win the match and the title. From November 24 to December 6, Strong Man and Nakanishi took part in the 2013 World Tag League, where they finished second to last in their block with a record of two wins and four losses, failing to advance to the semifinals.

Championships and accomplishments

* Lucha Libre USA ** LLUSA Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Petey Williams *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 236 of the top 500 wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

in 2011 *Pro Wrestling Revolution **PWR Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Misterioso II *

** Best Tag Team Award (2010) – with

Strongman career

Jon's strongman career began in 2002, winning the

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

's Strongest Man show, and he quickly earned his pro status by winning the Azelea Festival in 2003. Also in 2003, Jon won the North America's Strongest Man competition, his career best win. Jon joined the ranks of the IFSA strongman organization in 2005, placing 7th at the Pan-American Championships, and taking 2nd place at the IFSA World Team Championships along with teammates Travis Ortmayer, Geoff Dolan and

Van Hatfield Van Hatfield (born September 13, 1971) is an American professional strongman competitor and powerlifter from Mapleton, Utah.http://www.americanstrongman.com/athletes/detail.asp?AthleteID=45 Van won America's Stronge ...

Personal records

(All lifts done raw with only a weight belt) *

Bench Press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectoralis ...

: 565x3 * Close-Grip Bench Press: 545 *Push Press: 365x6, 275x20 * Squat: 775x3, 500x25, 405x37 *

Deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises ...

: 700x4, 500x21 *Box Jump: 50" *

Vertical Jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

: 35"

Other media

In 2015, Andersen appeared in the documentary "''Lucha Mexico''" with fellow wrestlers Shocker, Perro Aguayo Jr., and Sexy Star.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Jon 1972 births 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Living people American strength athletes Professional wrestlers from California Sportspeople from San Francisco