Mark Fleming (born June 15, 1962) 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 ...

, who worked for

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

in the Mid-Atlantic, and in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s. He is known for his

shoot style Shoot wrestling is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrest ...

of wrestling.

Early life

Fleming was the district champion for Virginia in high school wrestling in 1980. He was trained by

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

. Fleming got a try out in the Mid-Atlantic led by Gene Anderson and

Ole Anderson Alan Robert Rogowski (September 22, 1942 – February 26, 2024), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), was an American professional wrestler, booker, and promoter. Following a stint in the U.S. Army, Rogowski made his professional ...

Professional wrestling career

Fleming made his professional wrestling debut in 1982 for

. During his time with the company he worked as a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

. He would also worked for

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 ...

which had joint shows with Jim Crockett. In 1986, he worked for

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebr ...

in Kansas City. During his time in JCP, Fleming lost to the likes of

Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, the Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the year ...

, Gene Anderson,

Nikita Koloff Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson, March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, wher ...

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "the Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, where he was billed from Russia and, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ...

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 ...

, Magnum TA,

Tully Blanchard Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of ...

, and

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

. Fleming said "His best opponent was Ivan Koloff." In 1988,

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

bought Jim Crockett Promotions and renamed it

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). Fleming left WCW at the end of 1988. In 1989, Fleming made his debut in Japan where he was guided by Tokyo Joe. During that year he worked for

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional-wrestling 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 Asahi and Amuse Inc. owning minority shar ...

. In 1990, Fleming returned to the States working for

South Atlantic Pro Wrestling South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW, formerly known as the North American Wrestling Association) was a professional wrestling promotion founded by George Scott, John Ringley and Mike Lamberth in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1990, and later taken o ...

. Fleming fought

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock ( né Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known ...

to a 20-minute time limit draw during the first round of the NAWA Heavyweight Championship. He also worked in independent promotions in the Carolinas and Virginia. In 1992, Fleming returned to Japan this time working for

UWF International Union of Wrestling Forces International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''Newborn UWF'' th ...

, a

promotion. He left UWF International in 1993. From 1995 to 1999, Fleming worked in Japan's United Nations Wrestling where he feuded with Japanese wrestler Sad Genius. Fleming's last match on October 14, 2006, when he defeated

Kamala Kamala may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kamala (name) — lists people and characters with the surname or given name ** Kamala Harris, 49th Vice President of the United States and 2024 Democratic Party presidential nominee * Kamala ...

at TNT Pro Wrestling in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Personal life

Fleming owned a gym called Fleming's Gym in Portsmouth, Virginia. He is also a head instructor for Lou Thesz's professional wrestling gym. In 2016, Fleming released an autobiography with Scott Teal called It's Wrestling, Not Rasslin! about Fleming's life and career in wrestling published by Crowbar Press.

Championships and accomplishments

**International Heavyweight Champion 1990 to 1992 **Virginia Heavyweight Champion (3 times)

References

General * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Mark 1962 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Virginia 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers