The Monster Factory is a

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 carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

located in

Paulsboro, New Jersey Paulsboro is a borough in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,196, an increase of 99 (+1.6%) from the 2010 census count of 6,097,

owned and operated by Danny Cage. It is considered to be the first publicly available professional wrestling school. Larry Sharpe opened the Monster Factory wrestling school with "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers in 1983. The school's first famous pupil was Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, whose success brought a lot of attention to the school.

Pretty Boy Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory (1983–2011)

Sharpe's first pupils included

Tony Atlas Anthony White (born April 23, 1954) better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding ti ...

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 5, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian, better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he portrayed a pugnacious, ...

, and

Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned mos ...

, who Sharpe broke in at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater ...

. Some were attracted to train at the school by Bigelow's success, which made the school notable enough to attract future attendee

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned ...

while Tatanka would end up at the school by a chance meeting with Rogers in a video rental store.

2008 fire

In February 2008, the school was threatened by a fire which had started at the building adjacent to the school, ANA Laboratories, and the building was evacuated by the school trainers. The fire was confined to the laboratory until its roof collapsed; however, according to Camden County Chief Fire Marshal Paul Hartstein, only a

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

prevented the fire from reaching the school. The school had been in the middle of drills when the fire broke out, although all the students were safely evacuated to the outside parking lot.

The World Famous Monster Factory (2011-Present)

In 2011, Danny Cage purchased the name from Larry Sharpe. Monster Factory relocated to the Paulsboro Wrestling Club in Paulsboro,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

. Following the move, Cage began to supplement training with seminars featuring WWE scout

Gerald Brisco Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character ...

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

lead announcer Kevin Kelly,

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg. ...

Rip Rogers Mark Sciarra (born February 7, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Rip Rogers. Early life Sciarra was born in Seymour, Indiana on February 7, 1954. He graduated from Seymour High School in 1972 and ...

Les Thatcher Leslie Malady (born October 28, 1940), better known by the name Les Thatcher, is an American former professional wrestler. He helps run Elite Pro Wrestling Training, a professional wrestling school in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, with Ricky ...

, as well as wrestlers

Montel Vontavious Porter Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) ...

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the sam ...

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Easte ...

, Bob Evans,

Robbie E Robert Strauss (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and manager. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand as a manager under the ring name Mr. Stone. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop ...

, The Powers of Pain, and

Sean Waltman Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2– ...

. The Monster Factory also conducts birthday parties and ring rentals. The Monster Factory puts on monthly shows that feature matches from the school's students as well as established stars. In late 2013, Cage had his first pupil signed to a

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

development deal.

Stephen Kupryk Stephen Kupryk (born May 26, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he performs under the ring name Steve Maclin. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name S ...

, known at the Monster Factory as Tommy Maclin and now as Steve Cutler, left the Monster Factory in January 2014 and made his NXT debut as Cutler in June 2014. In November 2014,

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

fighter

Matt Riddle Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inactive du ...

enlisted in the school. Additionally, Monster Factory students and graduates have appeared as extras and performers on ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

'', ''

WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simul ...

'', ''

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring performers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show current ...

'', and

television since Cage assumed control of the school.

Notable alumni

The Monster Factory's graduates include: {, , valign=top , *

Balls Mahoney Jonathan Rechner (April 11, 1972 – April 12, 2016), better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney, was an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the late 19 ...

* Barry Hardy * Paul "Big Show" Wight *Budlicious *

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with promotions such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro- ...

* Chris Harris *

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1970), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and WWE. Brown is also known for his ...

Giant Silva Paulo César da Silva (born July 21, 1962) is a Brazilian former national basketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and later mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Giant Silva. He stands ...

, valign=top , * Gillberg *

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 The Godfather (novel), novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al ...

The Headbangers The Headbangers are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh (Charles Warrington) and Thrasher (Glenn Ruth). As the name of the team implies, their gimmick is that they are a pair of metalheads, complete with heavy metal related ...

* Nick Comoroto * The Pitbulls *

Damian Priest Luis Martínez (born September 26, 1982) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Damian Priest, and is a member of the stable The Ju ...

Rocco Rock Theodore James Petty (September 1, 1953 – September 21, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "Flyboy" Rocco Rock. Rock is best known for his appearances in Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Champio ...

Ray Odyssey Ray Samalonis (born January 31, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Surfer" Ray Odyssey. Professional wrestling career Odyssey competes primarily in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions. ...

, valign=top , *

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European in ...

Sonjay Dutt Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop ActionImpact Wrestling under the ring name Sonj ...

* Steve Maclin *

Tank Toland John Michael Toland (born August 31, 1973) is a former United States, American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tank Toland. Toland is best known for his appearances on the independent circuit with prof ...

* Tatanka *

* Tony Stetson * J. T. Southern * "Virgil" Mike Jones * Q. T. Marshall

Current trainers

* Danny Cage * The Blue Meanie * Billy Wiles * Q. T. Marshall

Previous trainers

* Larry Sharpe (deceased)

References

External links

Official website
1983 establishments in New Jersey Professional wrestling schools Paulsboro, New Jersey