Reuben de Jong is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

and

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 ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

descent. He is a two-time professional strongman champion of New Zealand and competed in the K-1 Kings of Oceania in 2006 and 2007. De Jong is the holder of two national records in the

farmer's walk Strength athletics is the collection of strength sports which measure physical strength, based on both: non-standard and historical implements as seen in Strongman and Highland games, and standardized and calibrated equipment as seen in Powerlift ...

and

stone lifting Lifting stones are heavy natural stones which people are challenged to lift, proving their strength. They are common throughout Northern Europe, particularly Iceland (where they are referred to as ''steintökin''), Scotland, Ireland, Basque Count ...

, and the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for running through the most panes of glass in under one minute. He was signed with

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, ...

under the name of Russell Walker in 2011, but was released the same year. A

television actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

, De Jong has had small roles in ''

Maddigan's Quest ''Maddigan's Quest'' is a New Zealand fantasy-based television series set in a post-apocalyptic future. It was based on an original concept by Margaret Mahy and was developed for television by Rachel Lang and Gavin Strawhan. The show original ...

'', ''

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'', and as ''Theokoles'' in '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand''. In 2010, he entered

professional wrestling 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, real- ...

and became one of the stars of

Impact Pro Wrestling Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW), also known as New Zealand Impact Pro Wrestling, is a New Zealand professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion. It has promoted regular events throughout the country and abroad in the last severa ...

, capturing the

IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship The IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the top professional wrestling championship (professional wrestling), championship title in the New Zealand professional wrestling promotion, promotion Impact Pro Wrestling (New Zealand), Impact Pro ...

within two months of his debut. On 7 December 2019 he won the Hughes Academy Championship, pinning Spencer Kyle.

Biography

Early career

Born in West Auckland,

, Reuben de Jong began working out while attending Waitakere College. In one of his first strongman performances, he won notice at the 134th Waipu Highland Games and "put pressure on the two lead contenders" Pat Hellier and Australian Craig Reid. Brian O'Brien, committee secretary for the Highland Games, told the

New Zealand Press Association The New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) was a news agency that existed from 1879 to 2011 and provided national and international news to the media of New Zealand. The largest news agency in the country, it was founded as the United Press Associ ...

that de Jong had "competed well in a number of the strongman events and would be one to watch in the future". He would eventually win the "New Zealand's Strongest Man" competition two consecutive years (2004 and 2005), and was able to "pull 17-tonne trucks without breaking a sweat". On 1 April 2006, he was among the strongmen invited to compete in Freddy Hooker's "Strongest Man in the World Ever — Aotearoa 2006" at

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of Tauranga located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harb ...

. The competition was judged by Levi Vaoga. In July 2006, de Jong was featured in the ''Western Leader'' following his appearance as a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

in a popular television advertisement. Afte
Sarah Valentine
talent spotted him he joined Background Talent, a New Zealand-based talent agency, where he landed roles in a number of feature films and television series including ''

'', Narnia, ''

'', and '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand''. He was then in training as a

Mixed Martial Arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter and studied under Karl Webber and

Ray Sefo Ray Sefo (born 15 February 1971) is a New Zealand fight promoter and retired kickboxer, boxer, and mixed martial artist. He was the K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Runner-up, is a six-time Muay Thai World Champion, and was an eight time K-1 World G ...

K-1 and Mixed martial arts

Reuben de Jong began his

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

and MMA career shortly after graduating from Ray Sefo's Fight Academy. In the summer of 2006, he entered the K-1 Kings of Oceania, a qualifying tournament for the 2007 K-1 World Grand, at the Trusts Stadium on 24 June 2006. He lost to

Jason Suttie Jason "Psycho" Suttie (born 7 August 1973) is a Samoans, Samoan-born New Zealand former heavyweight kickboxing, kickboxer and 6 time Muay Thai World champion fighting out of Elite Thai Kickboxing Gym in Auckland, New Zealand. Biography and car ...

in a 3rd-round decision in

Round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Corporation, a Japan-based amusement store chain. See also * '' Round One: The ...

and Peter Sampson via

TKO A technical knockout (TKO) is a professional fighting term. TKO may also refer to: Sports * TKO, the name of a professional wrestling move referring to either the cutter or stunner variant * TKO Group Holdings, a combat sports company Music Ar ...

Round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company), a toy company based in Indiana, United States {{disambiguation ...

, however, he managed to score a second-round TKO over Simi Tai at

Round 3 ''Round 3'' is Kim Hyun-joong's third Korean mini-album, which was released on July 22, 2013. Background and development Two days after the "2013 KHJ Show - Party People" fanmeeting in Seoul, Korea, KeyEast stated that Kim would be releasing hi ...

on 18 November 2006. At the ''2007 K-1 Kings of Oceania'', he suffered another 3rd-round decision loss to Jason Retti. On 27 October 2007, he fought to a

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

with Felise Leniu at ''Carnage in the Cage'' held at the ASB Stadium. He was also scheduled to face Sio Vitale and Alexei Ignashov during 2008, but took a break from professional fighting the next year.

Return to strongman competition

In January 2009, he and fellow New Zealand strongman Mick Cottrell represented the country at the 110th Browns Athletic Society's sporting carnival in competition against Australia's Craig Reid and Aaron Monks, and Scotland's Alastair Gunn and world champion

caber toss The caber toss () is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (), normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. The term "caber" derives from the Gaelic word ''cabar'', whi ...

er Malcolm Cleghorn. Sir Colin Earl Meads, a legendary

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

lock forward for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

during the 1950s and 60s, was in attendance. The next month, de Jong was interviewed by the ''Howick and Pakuranga Times'' while training for the upcoming Highland Games on 1 March. He was specifically preparing for the

, in which competitors attempt to walk as far as they can while carrying 125 kg weights in each hand, and stated his intention to break his own national record. He had previously set the national record in this event at 251.5m as well as holding the New Zealand record for

. On 24 July 2009, de Jong appeared on the first episode of '' NZ Smashes Guinness World Records'' where he broke the

for running through the most panes of glass (15) in under one minute. The record was previously held by Czech footballer Martin Latka who smashed through 11 panes of glass on German television earlier that year.

Professional wrestling

Impact Pro Wrestling NZ (2009-2011)

After nine months of training, de Jong made his debut as a

for one of the country's three major promotions

, debuting in a Rookie Battle Royal match at IPW Nightmare Before Xmas 09, winning a contract with the company. His first match was against Les West defeating him at an IPW

live event A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...

in Auckland on 20 March 2010; he made his television debut on '' IPW Ignition'' several weeks later. On 29 May 2010, he defeated "The One" Vinny Dunn at the ''IPW Genesis'' supercard for the

. Dunn had beaten Alexander in the main event to retain the championship when he was unexpectedly confronted by de Jong, responding to the open challenge Dunn had issued to any pro wrestler in New Zealand the previous month, and Dunn agreed to face him in an impromptu match for the title. The match was later aired on 22 July edition of ''IPW Ignition''. De Jong lost the

back to "The One" Vinny Dunn on 21 August 2010, at ''IPW Rival Turf'' after he had been inadvertently struck in the head with a briefcase by his manager, Justin Lane. Dunn then forced de Jong to submit with an

ankle lock A leglock is a joint lock that is directed at joints of the leg such as the ankle, knee or hip joint. A leglock which is directed at joints in the foot is sometimes referred to as a foot lock and a lock at the hip as a hip lock. Leglocks are featu ...

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2011)

In February 2011 Reuben signed a developmental contract with

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, ...

, and began training at WWE's

Florida Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until ...

developmental territory. De Jong is listed on FCW's roster under the name "Russell Walker." In June he was released.

Impact Pro Wrestling NZ Return (2011-2021)

De Jong returned to IPW at Nightmare B4 Xmas in December 2011 defeating Tykade and Dominic Le Fauce via DQ in a Land of The Giants match.

Championships and accomplishments

Professional wrestling

(2 times) **Hughes Academy Championship (1 time)

Strongman competition

*2004 New Zealand's Strongest Man *2005 New Zealand's Strongest Man

Fight record

Kickboxing record

MMA record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Reuben de Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand people of Dutch descent New Zealand male kickboxers Heavyweight kickboxers New Zealand male mixed martial artists Super heavyweight mixed martial artists New Zealand strength athletes New Zealand male professional wrestlers People educated at Waitākere College