Giovanni "Johnny" Roselli (born September 23, 1980) is a

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 ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

better known as Romeo Roselli. He is best known for his work with

World Wrestling Entertainment 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 va ...

, on its

RAW brand Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestle ...

, as one half of the tag team "The Heart Throbs".

Career

Early career

Roselli began wrestling on the independent circuit, initially training in Springfield, Massachusetts under Kevin Landry. From 1998 to 2000, Roselli wrestled as a heel, regularly appearing for the video-based promotion Junior Pro Wrestling Association as Johnny Heartbreaker. He rose to the top of the JPWA ranks after defeating top-ranked Damian "Lionheart" Campari. Heartbreaker went on to have the JPWA's longest undefeated streak until, after losing an arm wrestling challenge to Biff Backstreet, Backstreet challenged him to a match and was victorious. At the demise of the JPWA in 2002, Heartbreaker had the 3rd highest number of wins, behind Sasha "The Russian Skullcrusher" and Campari. Roselli also appeared for the video-based BG East Wrestling as ''Johnny Romano''. With JPWA closing, Johnny Heartbreaker started wrestling for New Era Pro Wrestling. While there, he formed a tag team with Mike Preston called the VIP. On July 13, 2002, they won the vacant NEPW United States Tag Team Championship which they would hold until they vacated the titles in March 2003. In 2003, Johnny Heartbreaker formed a tag team with Antonio Thomas called the Heart Breakers. On January 23, 2004, in

Southbridge, Massachusetts Southbridge is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,740 at the 2020 census. Although Southbridge has a city form of government, it is legally known as the Town of Southbridge. History The area was in ...

, they defeated Cueball and Nick McKenna to win the Eastern Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Championship. The Heart Breakers lost the titles to Clinically Inclined (Andre Lyonz and Dr. Heresy) on June 18.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004-2006)

In June 2004, Roselli moved to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

to train and wrestle in World Wrestling Entertainment's

developmental territory In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a highe ...

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. ...

. On August 25, Roselli made his OVW debut when he teamed up with Robbie Dawber to lose to Mac Johnson and Seth Skyfire. In late 2004, Antonio Thomas would also sign for OVW and the pair would reform their tag team, The Heart Breakers. After a few months of teaming together, they took on MNM in an

OVW Southern Tag Team Championship The OVW Tag Team Championship formerly known as the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. There have been 177 reigns shared b ...

number one contenders match but lost. In April 2005,

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his t ...

and Tajiri successfully defended the

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the c ...

against the debuting Romeo (Roselli) and Antonio (Thomas), billed as "

The Heart Throbs The Heart Throbs, also known as The Heartbreakers, is the name of a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Antonio Thomas and Romeo Roselli, currently wrestling on the independent circuit. Thomas and Roselli are billed as being popular "w ...

". The Heart Throbs participated in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the belts at

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backl ...

, but were unsuccessful. The heel team mainly appeared on the Raw brand's B-show, ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

''. They have short-lived feuds with the teams of

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

and William Regal,

Hurricane and Rosey The Hurricane and Rosey (also known unofficially as The Super Heroes) were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) based on the Raw brand. While in the WWE, their ring personas were those of a duo of superheroe ...

, and V-Squared (

Val Venis Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971), better known by the ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from ...

and

Viscera In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a ...

). During the first ''Heat'' episode of 2006, the pair turned

face The face is the front of an animal's 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 aff ...

and began regularly bringing two "hot chicks" into the ring with them to dance. On February 10, 2006 both of The Heart Throbs were released from WWE.

Independent circuit (2006-present)

Since his release from World Wrestling Entertainment, Roselli has worked for many US independent promotions and has sometimes competed against and teamed up with Antonio Thomas. He has also had the chance to wrestle in over countries as well such as Italy, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. Romeo Roselli - TRP Kowalski Cup

On March 23, Roselli returned to the New York independent circuit at Northeast Wrestling's Wrestlefest X in a losing effort against Mikey Batts. In April, Roselli had a one-month tour at Puerto Rico's main wrestling promotion,

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

. He defeated El Bronco for the

WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship The WWC Puerto Rico Championship is the secondary professional wrestling championship that is defended in the World Wrestling Council based in Puerto Rico. The title was created in January 1974 and, as its name suggests, is defended exclusively wi ...

, and re-lost the title to him in a Loser Leaves Town rematch, before returning to the US. Roselli returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling in October where he lost to

Paul Burchill Paul Birchall (born 8 October 1979), better known by his ring name Paul Burchill, is an English retired professional wrestler best known for his time with WWE. Prior to joining WWE, Burchill wrestled for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance and oth ...

. Roselli then went to Europe to tour with Nu-Wrestling Evolution. On December 10, 2006, in

Palermo, Italy Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its hi ...

, Romeo defeated

Vampiro Ian Richard Hodgkinson (born May 31, 1967), better known by his ring name Vampiro, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler who most recently served as director of talent for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He also worked for Lucha Un ...

to win the NWE Heavyweight Championship, becoming only the third champion in NWE history, and the first of Italian heritage. On January 13, 2007, Roselli debuted for

Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the President while Trevin Adams is the V ...

when he teamed up with Antonio Thomas and

Shiima Xion Michael Paris (born October 5, 1986) is a American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Smackdown brand, under the ring name Joaquin Wilde. He is a member of Legado Del Fantasma. Paris began his career in 2004, ...

and lost to Pelle Primeau and The Heartbreak Express (Phil Davis and Sean Davis). On March 10, 2007 Roselli defeated Jason Blade in the opening match on a NEW event. On April 6, Roselli made his UK debut when he defended the NWE World Heavyweight Championship against

Sterling James Keenan Matthew Polinsky (born February 24, 1984) is an American wrestling color commentator and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a commentator and analyst for ''Raw'' and '' SmackDown'' under the ring name Corey Graves. He is a ...

One Pro Wrestling One Pro Wrestling (abbreviated as 1PW) is a British professional wrestling promotion. 1PW was founded in 2005 by Steven Gauntley. Originally run by the now defunct retail chain 1 Up Games, the company's headquarters were located in Doncaster T ...

. On April 22, Roselli announced his surprise partner for the evening as

Joey Mercury Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979), better known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews, is an American professional wrestler who is best known for his two tenures in WWE. Birch was most recently signed to Ring of Honor, where he work ...

on a NEW event in Bristol, Connecticut and the duo, managed by

TNA TNA may refer to: Organisations * Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka * The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya * The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body * Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...

Knockout

Velvet Sky Jamie Lynn Szantyr (born June 2, 1981) is an American color commentator and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to NWA. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Velvet Sky. She is a ...

went on to defeat Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins of The NOW. On May 4, 2007, Roselli made a rare US NWE World Heavyweight Championship title defense at

Top Rope Promotions Top Rope Promotions (formerly known as Yankee Pro Wrestling and South Coast Championship Wrestling) is a North Eastern independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Bedford, Massachusetts and is the largest promotion in the Southern N ...

at the 2007 Killer Kowalski Cup where he defeated Mike Bennett. On May 11, Roselli and Thomas teamed up to take part in a gauntlet match for the International Wrestling Cartel Tag Team Championship which was eventually won by Johnny Gargano and Michael Facade. On April 19, 2008, Roselli was stripped of the NWE World Heavyweight Championship after an attack by

Orlando Jordan Orlando Ruben Jordan (born April 21, 1974) is an actor/stuntman and retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE on its SmackDown brand, where he was a one-time United States Champion and for his time with Impac ...

. In October, he took on Myke Quest for the National Wrestling Superstars Jersey Shore Championship and lost. In 2009, Roselli had two opportunities to win the NEW Heavyweight Championship but failed on every occasion (April 25, November 7). In late 2009, Roselli began wrestling for Victory Pro Wrestling and has had two chances to win the VPW New York State Championship but failed both times (October 6, 2012, November 23, 2013). He holds VPW victories over VSK, Jorge Santi, Kevin Fulton, and Johnny Armani. On June 29, 2013 he defeated

ROH Roh or ROH may refer to: * ''Roh'' (film), a 2020 Malaysian horror film * Roh (name), a Korean surname * Roh, Maré, New Caledonia * Revoluční odborové hnutí, labour union in Czechoslovakia 1945–1990 * Ring of Honor, American professional ...

wrestler

Vinny Marseglia Vincent Marseglia (born January 24, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, known for his time in Impact Wrestling, where he was a member of Honor No More. He is best known for his tenure in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a record setting ...

in the opening match of a NEW event in Southbury, Connecticut. Taven vs

On July 28, 2012, The Heart Throbs made their debut for Chikara, teaming with

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (A ...

(Matt and Nick Jackson) in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated by

Hallowicked Robert Goodwin (born November 1, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Hallowicked. He performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he started his career in May 2002. His accomplis ...

, Jigsaw,

Mike Quackenbush Michael Spillane (born March 18, 1976), is an American podcaster, author, professional wrestling trainer, professional wrestling promoter, and retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Mike Quackenbush. He has hosted several ...

and

UltraMantis Black UltraMantis Black (born July 17, 1975) is a professional wrestler and musician, who performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion. He is a former one-time Chikara Grand Champion and winner of the 2012 King of Trios tournament ...

. The Heart Throbs returned to the promotion on November 18, losing to

1-2-3 Kid 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 1–2–3 ...

and

Marty Jannetty Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wres ...

in a tag team match. On October 5, 2013, Roselli defeated

wrestler Joseph Park via disqualification. On November 14, 2013, Roselli wrestled for the

ROH World Television Championship The ROH World Television Championship is a professional wrestling world television championship in the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. With the introduction of the ROH World Television Championship, the television type championship returned to na ...

in an independent show,

Robbie Ellis Rob Elowitch (born April 8, 1943), better known by his ring name, Robbie Ellis, is an American professional wrestler who has competed in New England and Mid-Atlantic independent circuit as well as international promotions in Europe. The co-owner ...

Tribute: A tournament of Super Juniors, against

Matt Taven Matthew Marinelli (born March 20, 1985), known by his ring name, Matt Taven, is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, who currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his work with Ring of Honor (ROH), ...

, but was defeated. Roselli returned to Victory Pro Wrestling on March 8, 2014 for their eight anniversary show defeating Mr. Pogo in a show headlined by former

star

AJ Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...

. On June 1, 2014 in Spring Valley, NY for the Northeast Wrestling promotion, Roselli had a face to face encounter with

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 ...

Hall of Famer

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for ...

. On August 2, 2014 Roselli defeated WWE Hall of Famer Booker T Huffman Reality of Wrestling student Sergei Volkov in front of 3000 fans in Fishkill, New York at

Dutchess Stadium Dutchess Stadium is a baseball park in Wappingers Falls, New York. Opened in 1994, it holds 4,500 people. It is located on New York State Route 9D and is located across Interstate 84 from Fishkill Correctional Facility. Construction of the stadium ...

. A year prior, Roselli defeated former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

pitcher Joe Ausiano in the same venue on September 21, 2013. Roselli continues to tour the independent circuit for Northeast Wrestling (NEW) which runs shows primarily in Connecticut and New York.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007)

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

Destination X Destination X is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Impact Wrestling currently in the month of August. The event primarily revolves around the X-Division, the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010 events had Ultimate X matches. It ...

PPV, on March 11, 2007, Roselli and Antonio Thomas, (billed as The Heartbreakers), were revealed as the mystery tag team selected by

Christy Hemme Christina Lee Hemme ( ; born October 28, 1980) is an American former professional wrestler, singer and model. She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling) as a ring announcer ...

to face the Voodoo Kin Mafia. The Heartbreakers lost the match and were never seen in TNA again.

Other media

Although Roselli continues to work as an independent wrestler, he is also a certified personal trainer and has focused his attention on acting. He is a member of

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recor ...

, and appears in the films ''

College Road Trip ''College Road Trip'' is a 2008 American family comedy film directed by Roger Kumble and starring Martin Lawrence, Kym Whitley, Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, Margo Harshman, and Donny Osmond. The film centers on college-bound teen Melanie Porter ...

'', ''

Baby Mama A baby mama (also baby mother, or hyphenated baby-mama) is a slang term for a mother who is not marriage, married to her child's father, although the term often carries other connotations as well. This term is associated with African Americans ...

'', and '' The Wrestler''. Roselli wrote a regular column for the website WWEPreview.com and authors a fitness and wellness column for the monthly magazine WAG. In November 2006, Roselli appeared on the

FUSE TV Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multi ...

television program ''

Pants-Off Dance-Off ''Pants-Off Dance-Off'' (''PODO'') is a dance contest that premiered on April 18, 2006 on Fuse. It features stripteasers as they dance while disrobing. Format In each episode, five contestants striptease to a music video, while interviews, so ...

''. In July 2008, he returned to FUSE, on the program ''You Rock, Lets Roll'' - a dating show hosted by

Jared Cotter Jared Lincoln Cotter (born June 17, 1981) is an American pop/ R&B singer, songwriter and model. He has hosted a number of TV shows, and he co-wrote the number 1 song "Down" by Jay Sean.

. Roselli had to choose between three female musicians attempting to win him over with their musical talents. In 2012, he appeared in four different episodes of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

program ''

Restaurant Stakeout ''Restaurant Stakeout'' is a scripted American reality television series on the Food Network. The series debuted on March 12, 2012, with the second season premiering on August 29, 2012. It is one of the first non-studio shows attempted on Food ...

'' in which host Willie Degel sent him in as a plant to test the wait staff. In 2013, he appeared on the SyFy network original movie ''BattleDogs'', which stars

Craig Sheffer Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading roles as Norman Maclean in the film '' A River Runs Through It, ''Aaron Boone in the film ''Nightbreed'', Joe Kane in the film '' The ...

Dennis Haysbert Dennis Dexter Haysbert (born June 2, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the '' Major League'' film trilogy, Secret Service agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film '' Absolute Power'' ...

Kate Vernon Katherine Elizabeth Vernon (born April 21, 1961) is a Canadian-born American actress. She is known for her roles as Lorraine Prescott on the CBS primetime soap opera '' Falcon Crest'' (from 1984–1985), the stuck-up and popular Benny Hanson in ...

, and

Ernie Hudson Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the ''Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in ''The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003). H ...

. In the summer of 2013, Roselli was cast as the personal trainer for the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

program ''

Brain Games ''Brain Games'' is a collection of memory video games programmed by Larry Kaplan and released by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600 in 1978. It is a group of memory games, in which the player is faced with outwitting the computer in sound and pictur ...

'' and appeared alongside host

Jason Silva Jason Luis Silva Mishkin (born February 6, 1982) is a Venezuelan-American television personality, filmmaker, futurist, philosopher, and public speaker. He is known for hosting the National Geographic documentaries ''Brain Games'' and '' Origin ...

in seasons 3 and 4. Roselli plays one of the principal characters, Tony, in the comedy-horror feature film ''Jersey Shore Massacre'', which is executive produced by Jenni

Jwoww Jennifer Lynn Farley (born February 27, 1986), also known as JWoww, is an American television personality. She first came to prominence as one of the eight main cast members in the MTV reality series ''Jersey Shore'', and is a main cast member ...

Farley.

Filmography

Championships and accomplishments

Romeo Roselli - NEPW Heavyweight Champion

*Eastern Wrestling Alliance **EWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Antonio Thomas *Nu-Wrestling Evolution **NWE World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *New England Pro Wrestling **NEPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame The New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Fan Fest is an American professional wrestling hall of fame. It was established in January 2008 to honor select wrestling personalities who have made significant contributions to professional wrestli ...

**Class of 2019 *

( 1 time)

References

External links

GiovanniRoselli.com (Official Website)Baby Mama Movie Film Clip: Romeo Roselli
Giovanni Roselli in Baby Mama
NWE - Recap: Romeo become Champ -
Romeo wins NWE Heavyweight Championship
YouTube
Romeo Roselli wrestles in front of 72,000 fans in Paris, France
Food Network's "Ham On The Street" - Romeo Roselli
Heart Throbs appear on the Food Network
Romeo Roselli Comeback Video
Roselli Comeback Video From Knee Surgery {{DEFAULTSORT:Roselli, Romeo 1980 births American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Living people 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers WWC Puerto Rico Champions