Darryl Peterson (born October 3, 1961) is an American musician, actor and retired
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 ...
grade school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
when he transferred from football to amateur wrestling as result of a personality clash with the football coach. His amateur career was halted by a motorcycle accident in his junior year of
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
. After playing a high school wrestler in the film '' Take Down'' with Lorenzo Lamas, Peterson married and had a child. He began working in the construction industry, but decided after two years to return to amateur wrestling.
Peterson earned wrestlingscholarships to
junior college
A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in ...
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...
(NCAA). In 1985 he was an All-American, placed fifth in the NCAA competition and also won the Gorriarian award for having the most falls in the least amount of time at the tournament. Every match he won that year at the NCAA's, he won by fall. It was his best and only NCAA finish. Then he relocated to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
to pursue an acting career. While working as a
security guard
A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...
, he was introduced to professional wrestler Red Bastien by his boss, and decided to train with him.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1987–1993)
Peterson worked for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 1986, and put together the steel cage used in the main event of WrestleMania 2. With his training complete, he debuted in June 1987 and soon after traveled to Japan to work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he trained in the New Japan Dojo alongside fellow gaijinChris Benoit for five months.
In 1988, Peterson developed the
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
Max Pain (short for "Maximum Pain"), a sinister, grungy,
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
-loving heavy metal guitarist. His original idea was Lucifer Payne, but he felt that this was too foreboding. He used the name Max Payne, hailing from Hell's Kitchen, New York nationally in the United States as well as in Europe and Japan. Following a short stint with the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), Pain debuted in the
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...
Phil Hickerson
Phil Hickerson (born October 4, 1946) is an American retired 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 b ...
.
Pain left the CWA after a year before returning to
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
, where he opened his own promotion, featuring wrestlers such as Louie Spicolli. He also made an appearance under his real name as a jobber on a February 1989 episode of '' WWF Prime Time Wrestling'', losing to Bret Hart. After his employees began to leave the territory, Peterson applied for a job with WordPerfect. Soon after, he received a phone call from Benoit, who invited him to join an upcoming tour of Germany. Peterson received his plane ticket to Germany half an hour before he received a job offer from WordPerfect, so decided to join the tour. He spent six months in the German Catch Wrestling Association as Heavy Metal Buffalo, and won the vacant
CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship
The CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship was the secondary singles title in the German professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional w ...
on October 25, 1992, defeating Giant Haystacks. He then successfully defended the title against The Warlord at Euro Catch Festival on December 19. He vacated the title the following year when he returned to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
local competitor
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 is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the lit ...
Scott Allen. Peterson's first
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
abdominal stretch
Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers u ...
from which he was unable to escape, Payne pushed the referee over rather than submit and was subsequently disqualified.
At the June 17 Clash of the Champions XXIII, Payne shot
Johnny B. Badd
Marc Mero (born July 9, 1960) is an American former amateur boxer and professional wrestler, as well as a motivational speaker. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under his real name and with ...
in the face with a confetti gun, ( kayfabe) scarring him so badly that he had to wear a mask and forcing him to forfeit their scheduled match. This led to a match at Beach Blast on July 18, which Payne lost. They faced one another again at the August 18 Clash of the Champions XXIV in a mask versus guitar match, with Payne putting his guitar on the line in order to unmask and therefore humiliate the mutilated Badd. Badd won once more and took Payne's guitar.
Payne took part in WCW's Jesse "The Body" Ventura Strong-Arm Tournament in late 1993, but was eliminated in the first round by Sid Vicious. On November 20, Payne entered the
Battlebowl
BattleBowl was a one-time professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The show took place on November 20, 1993, at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida. The event featured only th ...
, a tournament which saw randomly assigned tag team partners work together in order to progress to a battle royal. He was partnered with 2 Cold Scorpio, with whom he lost in the first round to Stunning Steve Austin and
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
. Payne later turned face and formed a tag team with
Cactus Jack Cactus Jack may refer to:
People with the nickname
* Mick Foley (born 1965), American actor, writer, professional wrestler, and color commentator
* John Nance Garner (1868–1967), American politician
* Jack Wells (sportscaster) (1911–1999), Ca ...
towards the end of the year. At Starrcade 1993 they defeated
Tex Slazenger
Dennis Knight (born December 26, 1968) is an American chef and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1992 and 1994 under the ring name Tex Slazenger and with the World Wrestl ...
Clash of the Champions XXVI
''Clash of the Champions'' is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that were produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). T ...
Spring Stampede 1994
Spring Stampede (1994) was the inaugural Spring Stampede pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event took place on April 17, 1994 from the Rosemont Horizon in
During his and Jack's feud with The Nasty Boys, Payne had become increasingly unhappy with their
stiffness
Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force.
The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is.
Calculations
The stiffness, k, of a b ...
and insistence on controlling the match. During their brawl at SuperBrawl IV, Brian Knobbs and Payne did not cooperate on a fall, and Knobbs broke his shoulder as a result. After the match, WCW President Eric Bischoff shouted at Payne for hurting Knobbs, and Payne responded in kind. As a result, he was subsequently buried. He was fired from WCW soon after, although he did help Jack and his new partner, Kevin Sullivan, defeat The Nasty Boys with a guitar shot.
World Wrestling Federation (1995)
The morning after he was released by WCW, Peterson was contacted by wrestler Rick Rude, who convinced WWF owner Vince McMahon to hire him. Renamed Man Mountain Rock in honor of early-20th century wrestler Man Mountain Dean, his WWF character was considerably more upbeat and less gritty than the popular Maxx Payne character, and did not achieve the same success. Debuting in February 1995 on an episode of '' WWF Superstars of Wrestling'', Man Mountain Rock played a large electric guitar shaped like the WWF logo. He would come to the ring during a commercial, with the arena going pitch black and ring announcer Manny Garcia saying "Ladies and Gentleman, Man Mountain Rock!" He would then play his "axe" (electric guitar) while pyro went off. He would frequently state, "If it's too loud, then you're too old!" Vince McMahon, then a commentator, would often comment that Rock "rocked the house". In the latter part of his WWF tenure, his music incurred the wrath of veteran Bob Backlund, then playing the part of a cantankerous heel crusading against the younger generation, who objected to the music Man Mountain Rock was playing. Man Mountain Rock had suffered several injuries during his amateur career, and had hoped to secure a backstage position with WCW. When he moved to the WWF, he asked to be made an announcer, but his request was denied. His career in the WWF met with several disruptions, including a serious hernia, an addiction to pain pills and
downers
A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug that lowers neurotransmission levels, which is to depress or reduce arousal or stimulation, in various areas of the brain. Depressants are also colloquially referred to as downers as they lower the l ...
and a
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
habit, which ultimately led to his release in October 1995.
While working for the WWF, Peterson filmed several hours of behind-the-scenes footage with a video camera which he often carried and claimed that he would release a documentary called ''The Thing that Should Not Be'' or ''The Real Maxx Payne'' based on the footage, but never did. The footage reportedly contained scenes showing
substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
Max Payne
''Max Payne'' is a neo-noir third-person shooter video game series developed by Remedy Entertainment (''Max Payne'' and ''Max Payne 2'') and Rockstar Studios (''Max Payne 3''). The series is named after its protagonist, Max Payne, a New York Ci ...
''. The case was settled out of court.
Retirement
On April 17, 2004, Peterson addressed an audience in the Schubert Theater at the Western States College for the Performing Arts in Gooding, Idaho, talking about professional wrestling.
Movies and television appearances
*''Take Down'' (1979) as "Ted Yacabobich"
*'' Touched by an Angel'' (February 1, 1998) as "Cato"
*''A Town Has Turned to Dust'' (1998) as "Pig Iron"
*'' Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012'' (1998)
*''The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All'' (1999) as "Muscle"
*'' Touched by an Angel'' (January 9, 2000) as "Man #2"
*''Nobody's Baby'' (2001) as "Truck Driver"
*''Paradise'' (2004) as "XL"
CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship
The CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship was the secondary singles title in the German professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional w ...
2 times
"2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...
2 times
"2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...
) – with Gary Young
*'' Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
**Ranked No. 73 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1993