Neal Hargrove, better known by his

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 ...

, Reno Riggins, (born January 13, 1967) 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 ...

. Riggins has competed in Southeastern independent promotions including the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...

(USWA) during the 1990s.

Professional wrestling career

Hargrove was the final wrestler to be trained by

Tojo Yamamoto Harold Watanabe (January 6, 1927 – February 19, 1992), better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto, was an American professional wrestler. Early life Watanabe was born in Hawaii in 1927 to a Japanese father and an American mother. He serv ...

before Yamamato's death in 1992. Hargrove made his

World Wrestling Federation 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, ...

(WWF) debut as Reno Riggins in March 1988, spending several years as an enhancement talent, competing against many of the top heels of the time. He also appeared in a dark match losing to Rip Rogers at the NWA's

Halloween Havoc Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event currently produced by WWE. Since 2020, it has been held annually for the company's WWE brand extension, developmental brand, NXT (WWE ...

in October 1990. Leaving the WWF in 1992, he began competing for the USWA and eventually won the USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship from

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian ...

in August 1992. After a brief stint in

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, wit ...

in early 1993, he returned to the WWF and frequently appeared as an enhancement talent (now as a heel putting over numerous

faces The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...

) on

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show features character ...

until deciding to retire in early 1995. Following the close of the USWA in 1997, Hargrove came out of retirement and began teaming with Steven Dunn as "The Tennessee Volunteers" in Music City Wrestling feuding with Flash Flanagan and

Wolfie D Kelly Warren Wolfe (born December 7, 1973) is an American retired professional wrestler. Wolfe is perhaps best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the ring name Wolfi ...

over the promotion's North American tag team titles (later renamed the NWA North American Tag Team Championship) during the late 1990s. They also made an appearance for the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) on an episode of Shotgun Saturday Night against

The Hardy Boyz The Hardy Boyz are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Jeff Hardy, Jeff and Matt Hardy. They are both signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where they are former three time TNA Tag Team Championship, TNA ...

. Appearing at the first

Brian Pillman Memorial Show The Brian Pillman Memorial Show was an annual professional wrestling event held between 1998 and 2001 benefiting the children of Brian Pillman and featuring talent from World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, late ...

in 1998, he and Dunn would later compete as "Main Event" in the National Wrestling Alliance eventually winning the NWA World Tag Team titles in Eskan,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

on April 7, 2000. Hargrove now does advertising, commentating and booking for

Showtime All-Star Wrestling Showtime All-Star Wrestling and NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Rockwood, Tennessee. History SAW began in April 2007, started then business partners Reno Riggins and TJ Weatherby at We ...

. He retired from wrestling in 2011.

Championships and accomplishments

*Central Wrestling Federation **CWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Krull the Deathstalker *Music City Wrestling **MCW North American Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Steven Dunn *

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

¹ **

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

( 1 time) - with Steven Dunn ** NWA North American Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Steven Dunn * NWA Nashville ** NWA North American Tag Team Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with Steven Dunn *''

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 ...

'' **PWI ranked him # 189 of the 500 best 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 1998. *

** SAW International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Spectrum Sports **Spectrum Sports Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

:* USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ¹His reign as NWA World Tag Team Champion began while wrestling on a card in Saudi Arabia. Records are unclear as for what promotion he wrestled at the time, as they are for when he first became NWA North American Tag Team Champion.

References

External links

*
Reno Riggins
at
WrestleWiki
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riggins, Reno 1967 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers NWA World Tag Team Champions 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers