Paul London
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| Paul London | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Paul London El Gran Luchadore El Vegas Dragon |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Billed weight | 195 lb (93 kg) |
| Born | April 16, 1980 Austin, Texas |
| Billed from | Austin, Texas |
| Trained by | Texas Wrestling Academy Rudy Boy Gonzalez Shawn Michaels Dory Funk, Jr. |
| Debut | 1999 |
Paul London (born April 16, 1980) is an American professional wrestler currently performing on the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he is one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions along with Brian Kendrick.
London previously worked for Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and various independent and Japanese promotions. London has been nicknamed the "Excellence of Innovation" due to his innovative high-flying wrestling style.
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London graduated high school and went on to college. While in college London would train to become a professional wrestler in a nearby training school, the Shawn Michaels' Texas Wrestling Academy. London did not tell his family about his ambition of being a professional wrestler, nor did he inform them during the first 3 years of this career in fear of being disowned by his parents. He eventually dropped out of college to concentrate on his wrestling career.
London's first national television appearance came as a plant during The Undertaker and Ric Flair's feud leading up to WWF WrestleMania X-8. London played the part of a fan hit by Flair and had him arrested on an episode of SmackDown!.[citation needed]
London's main exposure came from his work in the Ring of Honor promotion. During his time working for ROH, London's matches were often accompanied by chants of "please don't die" as a reference to his wild style. While in ROH, London feuded with Michael Shane and had acclaimed matches against other Shawn Michaels-trained wrestlers such as Bryan Danielson and Spanky. London's final match in ROH was a valliant attempt to de-throne the ROH World Champion, Samoa Joe.
He had a short stint with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2003, only making four appearances in the company, his final being on June 18, 2003 at the TNA Anniversary show. He wrestled X-Division Champion Chris Sabin for the title only to lose due to interference from CM Punk.
London went on to sign a WWE Development deal in mid-2003, working a few dark matches before being sent to its development territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling on August 30, 2003. London would make his official WWE television debut on the SmackDown! brand, losing to Brock Lesnar in a try-out match on October 9, 2003.
He later began a tag team with fellow cruiserweight and long-time friend, Spanky, when Spanky came to the rescue of London during his match with Brock Lesnar. The team was a mainstay on Velocity, until Spanky left the company due to the low salary and to hone his skills in Japan.
After this London would be placed with a new tag team partner, Billy Kidman. This team had more success and went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz on July 8, 2004. The champions would find limited success defeated the Dudleyz in singles matches and a title match as well. They would however go on to lose to the Dudleyz at SummerSlam in a six-man tag team match with their partner Rey Mysterio.
London and Kidman's championship reign came to an end after Kidman turned his back on London, leaving him to defend the tag team titles by himself against René Duprée and Kenzo Suzuki. Still nursing the attack from Jon Heidenreich London was left helpless and ended up dropping the titles. Kidman's heel turn came off the back of a legitimate injury on an August 24, 2004 taping of SmackDown!, where Billy Kidman's Shooting Star Press caused Chavo Guerrero to suffer a concussion and be taken to the hospital. Kidman was having second thoughts performing the move and felt that the fans turned their back on him. This led to a feud between London and Kidman which culminated at No Mercy where Kidman defeated London using the Shooting Star Press. After the match London was bleeding internally and being stretchered when Kidman pulled him back on the ring with the stretcher and delivered another Shooting Star Press to London's injured ribs. This storyline was put in place after London had broken his nose wrestling Booker T on an episode of Smackdown a few weeks prior to the event. The nose required surgery and for London to miss a few months.
London returned in December wrestling on Velocity. It was there that the London and Kidman feud quietly ended on December 9, 2004 when London defeated Kidman. Over the next two months London engaged in a feud with Akio that took place in a series of acclaimed matches on Velocity. The feud reached its peak on an episode of Velocity taped in Japan where London emerged victorious, taking a 2-1 lead in the series. After that London was then placed in the hunt for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
In 2005, he began a feud with Chavo Guerrero at WWE No Way Out where Chavo Guerrero defeated London by using the ropes after London had outlasted four other competitors in the Cruiserweight Open. London would eventually win a Number 1 Contender's match on Smackdown and was supposed to face Guerrero for the title, however Chavo was briefly injured and London won the title instead in a Cruiserweight Battle Royal in front of his home state of Texas on March 31, 2005. Chavo would eventually heal up and challenge London for the title at Judgement Day where London would emerge victorious.
The pair continued their feud and had a Cruiserweight title match on June 23, 2005, but this title match was quickly interrupted by The Mexicools, who also interrupted a rematch the following week. This was supposed to form an uneasy alliance between Guerrero and London, however Guerrero was abruptly traded to the Raw brand. On July 14, 2005, Paul London teamed with Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki to face The Mexicools. The ending of the match saw Juventud perform the 450 Splash on London for the win, almost injuring him in the process. This abruptly changed plans for the Great American Bash pay per view where Juventud was supposed to challenge London for the title, however London ended up wrestling on Sunday Night Heat.
As a result of the number of injuries it was reported that WWE management told their cruiserweight stars to tone down their high flying nature, banning both the 450 splash and the shooting star press. London, who used the shooting star on July 30, 2005 in a Velocity match with Nunzio, was told afterwards not to use the move anymore, and to come up with a new finisher. He was the one injured by a 450° splash before the decision was made to ban the move. He was said to be notably upset, and even went to Vince McMahon to air his views[citation needed]. Some claim as a form of punishment, London went on to lose the WWE Cruiserweight Title on August 6, 2005 on the next edition of Velocity to Nunzio and then deliver a heel promo afterwards claiming he was cheated.
London was then taken off TV and was said to be at home dealing with a family illness. London then had a short-lived heel turn where he complained about his treatment in WWE. He used many non-crowd pleasing tactics, such as complaining to the ref while wrestling and trying out new moves which he could use for a new finisher. During this time he would go on a long losing streak before returning as a face and re-teaming with the newly rehired Brian Kendrick, who was previously known as Spanky.
On the December 17th, 2005 edition of Velocity the pair remade their image. They wore masks like those used in theatre plays to the ring and matching shiny purple (later becoming blue, then red, then black & white) vests and shorts. The new image brought new life to the team who would go on to produce an impressive showing against then WWE Tag Team Champions, MNM. On the April 7, 2006 edition of SmackDown! London and Kendrick would once again face MNM, this time picking up a win in a non-title match against the reigning WWE Tag Team champions. London and Kendrick would continue their winning streak on the champions, including singles victories for both Kendrick and London on Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury respectively. London and Kendrick defeated MNM at Judgment Day 2006 to win the WWE Tag Team titles, thus defeating MNM six times in a row in singles and tag team matches altogether.
While feuding with James and Stevens, London and Kendrick would be accompanied by Ashley Massaro. She acted as a valet to the team to combat the actions of James and Stevens' manager Michelle McCool.
On October 14, 2006, London and Kendrick became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all time, surpassing MNM's previous record of 145 days. However, the team soon went on a losing streak to a new team of William Regal and Dave Taylor. Regal defeated both team members in singles matches and on the December 8, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Kendrick and London lost a non-title tag team match to the pair. However, during a scheduled title defense at Armageddon 2006, London and Kendrick would not only retain against Regal and Taylor but would win a fatal four-way ladder match which also involved MNM and The Hardys. On the January 12, 2007 edition of SmackDown! London and Kendrick were succesful in retaining their championships against Regal and Taylor in a traditional tag team match.
On February 2, 2007, London and Kendrick suffered a non-title loss to the rookie team Deuce 'N Domino, in what was their third match on the main show. However in a tag title rematch at No Way Out 2007, London and Kendrick would retain the titles.
On March 17, 2007 London and Kendrick celebrated the anniversary of their 300th day as WWE Tag Team Champions. This marks the 4th longest streak in WWE Tag Team History only behind the Demolition (478 days), Jimmy & Johnny Valiant (370 days), and Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji (337 days). During their reign London and Kendrick have defeated the tag teams of MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury), The Mexicools, the Full Blooded Italians, The Pit Bulls, the Teacher's Pets, William Regal and Dave Taylor, the Hardy Boyz, and Deuce 'N Domino. They have also gone 5-0 in their last five pay per view matches. Despite controversy on the March 23, 2007 edition of Smackdown they retained the titles by London hitting Joey Mercury with a crossbody.
- Finishing and signature moves
- Cosmic Cyclone /Calling London (450° splash)
- London Calling / London Star Press (Shooting star press) - in Ring of Honor
- Legsweep DDT - in Ring of Honor
- Waffle Face (Sky-lift chickenwing facebuster)
- Standing London Star Press (Standing shooting star press)
- Dropsault
- Diving crossbody
- Jumping heel kick enzuigiri
- Mushroom stomp
- Somersault plancha
- Superkick
- Bridging fallaway slam - in Ring of Honor
- Hangman's facebuster
- Dragon suplex
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Billy Kidman (1) and Brian Kendrick (1, current)
- WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- East Coast Wrestling Association
- Extreme Texas Wrestling
- ETW Television Champion (1 time)
- Funkin' Conservatory
- FC United States Championship (1 time)
- FC Television Championship (1 time)
- FC Hardcore Championship (1 time)
- FC Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Adam Windsor
- Other Titles
- CTPW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Texas Television Championship (1 time)
- PCW Television Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Most Underrated Wrestler (2004)
Categories: Wikipedia articles needing factual verification | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1980 births | Living people | People from Austin, Texas | American professional wrestlers | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alumni | Ring of Honor alumni