Matthew Robert Wiese
[ (born September 22, 1971) 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 actor. He is best known for his tenure in WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
, where he performed on its SmackDown brand under the ring name
A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...
Luther Reigns.
Professional wrestling career
World Championship Wrestling (1997–1998)
After a friend's recommendation, Wiese tried out for the Power Plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
, 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)'s professional wrestling school
Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...
. Upon completing his training in the Power Plant, Wiese started his wrestling career as an enhancement talent in WCW in May 1997 using the ring name Horshu. To complement the name, his hair was shaved into a horseshoe
A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...
pattern and he would try to work the word "shu" into his promos, which most notably spawned his catchphrase "There's no business like 'shu' business, baby!". He was also among six wrestlers who "auditioned" for an anti- New World Order faction called Piper's Family on the March 3, 1997, episode of ''Monday Nitro
''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United ...
'', spearheaded by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor.
In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences fo ...
. After being tested in 30-second impromptu match with Piper, Wiese was quickly defeated via sleeper hold after attempting to use dirty tactics to defeat Piper.
AWA Superstars of Wrestling (1999–2003)
After his stint in WCW, Wiese made his way to Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) for more training. After his finishing up in UPW, Wiese debuted in AWA Superstars of Wrestling under his Horshu ring name. During his time there, he won the World Heavyweight Championship and held the title for a total of nine months. However, he was stripped of the title due to missing mandatory title defenses. Horshu left the promotion shortly afterwards. Wiese also worked in Japan for Pro Wrestling Zero1
, often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Professional wrestling in Japan, Japanese professional wre ...
. After an interview with Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...
, he received a developmental contract from World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
in June 2003. He soon signed on and was sent to wrestle in Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion, professional wrestling promotion and former developmental territory based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow, Matt Jones (radio host), Ma ...
, WWE's then-developmental territory, where he competed under the ring name Inspector Max Impact.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2003–2005)
After a few non-televised matches before Raw in 2003 and 2004, Wiese was promoted to World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
's main roster in April 2004 under the name Luther Reigns, where he became the " assistant" to then-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 ...
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...
. Reigns later made his in-ring debut on SmackDown! against Funaki. He made his PPV debut at The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event held during the summer and has been produced by the American promotion WWE since 2004; since 2020, it has been held as an annual event for WWE's developmental brand, NXT. Created by Dus ...
by defeating Charlie Haas
Charles Doyle Haas II (born March 27, 1972) is an American Professional wrestling, professional and former Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2000 to 2009 and Ring of H ...
, a former member of Kurt Angle's team, with whom Angle was feuding at the time.
In September, Reigns and Angle introduced the newly drafted Mark Jindrak
Mark Robert Jindrak (born June 26, 1977) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under his own name and for his appeara ...
as a new member of their team during their tag team match against Big Show
Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) f ...
and Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling ...
. This led to a four-month feud with Big Show. Reigns and Jindrak then formed a new Team Angle with Angle as the leader. From September 2004 until mid-February 2005, Reigns and Jindrak helped Angle win most of his matches as well as dealing with his enemies. Reigns and Jindrak also began to compete for the WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE ...
on occasion. However, the faction split in mid-February as Reigns and Jindrak went off on their own to feud with The Undertaker
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...
. On the February 17 episode of ''SmackDown!'', The Undertaker defeated Jindrak, after which Reigns smashed a television camera over The Undertaker's head. On February 20, Reigns wrestled against The Undertaker at No Way Out. Jindrak was thrown out before the match started and although Reigns managed to hold his own, The Undertaker ultimately won the match.
Following this, the team of Reigns and Jindrak began to have a falling-out. Reigns became upset at Jindrak for tapping out in a "Double Jeopardy" handicap match against The Undertaker on the February 24 edition of ''SmackDown!'' when Reigns refused to tag in. After the match, Reigns and Jindrak briefly argued before coming to blows and had to be pulled apart by officials. The following week on the March 3 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio
Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest '' luch ...
defeated Jindrak and Reigns to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. After the match, Jindrak tried to help Reigns up to his feet after he was pinned, but Reigns smacked Jindrak in response. The two argued until Jindrak knocked Reigns out with a left hook. On the March 10 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Jindrak and Reigns competed in a singles match, which ended with Jindrak pinning Reigns after a left hook, effectively ending their team. Reigns later took part in a 30-man interpromotional battle royal
Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...
at WrestleMania 21
WrestleMania 21, also promoted as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, was a 2005 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 21st annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2005, at ...
as a representative of the SmackDown! brand, but was unable to win as fellow SmackDown! superstar Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to
* Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century
** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T."
* Booker T. Jones (born 194 ...
won the match.
After this, Reigns resumed his feud with Big Show after saying that Big Show embarrassed the SmackDown! brand at WrestleMania 21 when Show lost to Akebono in a sumo match. Reigns unsuccessfully tried to tip over a Jeep
Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...
to prove he was stronger than Show, who then successfully tipped the Jeep over. Big Show subsequently defeated Reigns in a singles match on the following edition of ''SmackDown!''.
Reigns then wrestled mainly on ''Velocity
Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
'', winning the majority of his matches until he requested his release from the company, which was fulfilled on May 11, 2005. According to Wiese, the reason he requested his release was due to creative differences with Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former executive, promoter, and commentator. He is signed to WWE as the on-screen manager of Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed, and is widely regard ...
, as Heyman originally planned to have him and René Duprée
René Goguen (born December 15, 1983), better known by his ring name René Duprée (; ) is a Canadian professional wrestler and podcaster. He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah where he is a former two-time GHC Tag Team Champion.
Goguen ...
move to Raw to perform as a 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 ...
. Wiese instead wished to form a stable
A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed.
Styles
There are many different types of stables in use tod ...
with Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and Tyson Tomko with Christian as the leader of the stable. However, Heyman repeatedly dismissed the idea and Wiese instead negotiated his release.[
]
Late career (2005–2006)
Following his departure from WWE, Wiese attempted to become a real estate salesman,[ but his plans ultimately fell through. Instead, Wiese returned to wrestling under his Horshu ring name and returned to Ultimate Pro Wrestling in mid-2005 to face Tom Howard for the UPW Heavyweight Championship, but was unable to win the title. On October 13, Horshu lost to The Patriot in a match for Impact Zone Wrestling.][ before returning to wrestling on June 17 and defeating Sheik Hussein in an impromptu match in his debut for ]Scott Norton
Scott Norton (born June 15, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and author. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, in which he was a member of the New World Order and n ...
's Wild West Championship Wrestling.[ He returned to WWCW on September 16, where he wrestled ]Aaron Aguilera
Aaron Aguilera (born February 28, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and actor best known as Jesús and Uno on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), MTV's Wrestling Society X, All Japan Pro Wrestling as Zodiac and Lucha Libre USA as Lu ...
to a no contest after Norton interfered.[ Later on in the night, Horshu teamed with Heidenreich in a losing effort to Norton and Aguilera in what turned out to be Wiese's final match.][
]
Media
Filmography
*'' The Girl Next Door'' (2004) as Mule
*'' True Legend'' (2009) in an uncredited role[
*''Spring Break '83'' (2010) as Horseshoe
*'']Let's Be Cops
''Let's Be Cops'' is a 2014 American Buddy cop film, buddy cop action comedy film co-written and directed by Luke Greenfield. The film stars Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson as two friends who Police impersonation, pretend to be police officers ...
'' (2014) as Pupa's Rival
Television
*''The Jenny Jones Show
''The Jenny Jones Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Jenny Jones. The show ran for twelve seasons from September 16, 1991, to May 21, 2003, in which it broadcast over 2,000 episodes. Taped at the NBC Towe ...
'' (2003) in episode "From Geek to Bad Ass Physique"[
*'' My Bare Lady'' (2006) in episodes "Floodlights and Catfights" and "Cattle Call" as himself]
*''Heroes
Heroes or Héroes may refer to:
* Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good
Film
* ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama
* ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film
Gaming
* ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...
'' (2008) in episodes "Dying of the Light" and "Angles and Monsters" as Milosh[
*'' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2009) in episode "Disarmed and Dangerous" as Vinnie Mingus][
]
Personal life
In early 2006, Wiese began working as a bodyguard
A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...
, including for the AVN pornography
Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...
convention in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. He also performed tour security for touring rock bands, including Saliva
Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...
and Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge is an American Rock music, rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips (musician), Scott Phill ...
.
On April 19, 2010, it was reported that Wiese had suffered a stroke in December 2009. Wiese stated that he believed his steroid use, which began during his time at Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
, and the painkiller addiction he developed from wrestling were contributing factors to the cause of the stroke.
On April 10, 2015, several media outlets reported that Wiese, along with Russ McCullough and fellow WWE alumnus Ryan Sakoda, had filed a class action
A class action is a form of lawsuit.
Class Action may also refer to:
* ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
* Class Action (band), a garage house band
* "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...
lawsuit against WWE, alleging, among other things, that "the WWE has known for years ... the brutality in the ring has resulted in dementia, Alzheimer's disease and a lot more". The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. The lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in March 2016.
Championships and accomplishments
* AWA Superstars of Wrestling
** AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)
*''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 ...
''
**Ranked No. 80 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the ''PWI 500
''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 ...
'' in 2004
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reigns, Luther
1971 births
Living people
American male professional wrestlers
American male film actors
American male television actors
American people convicted of assault
American shooting survivors
Arizona State University alumni
Bodyguards
Male actors from New York City
20th-century male professional wrestlers
20th-century American professional wrestlers
21st-century male professional wrestlers
21st-century American professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from New York City