Biff Wellington

Shayne Alexander Bower (April 18, 1965 – June 24, 2007), better known by his ring name Biff Wellington, was a Canadian professional wrestler born, raised, and died in Calgary, Alberta.

Biff Wellington
Birth nameShayne Alexander Bower[1]
Born(1965-04-18)April 18, 1965[2]
Calgary, Alberta, Canada[2]
DiedJune 24, 2007(2007-06-24) (aged 42) (approximate)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Beef Wellington
Biff Wellington
Buddy Hart
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight226 lb (103 kg)
Trained byHart Family
Hiroshi Hase
Mr. Hito
Debut1986[2]
Retired1996

Professional wrestling career

Shayne Bower trained with the Hart Brothers school by Keith Hart, Mr. Hito and Hiroshi Hase.[1] He made his debut in December 1986 using the name Biff Wellington. in Stampede Wrestling as a villain, but then transitioned to a fan favorite, which he was for the remainder of his time there.[2] In Stampede, Wellington frequently tagged with Chris Benoit.[2] In 1989, Wellington and Benoit beat Makhan Singh and Vokhan Singh to become Stampede Wrestling's International Tag Team Champions.

After Stampede Wrestling shut down in December 1989, Wellington worked in various promotions in Canada, such as Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW).

Wellington then received tryouts for the World Wrestling Federation at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta during a live event on July 8[3] and they next night on July 9 at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta, Wellington beating fellow Canadian Hugh Thomas with a Tombstone Piledriver (kneeling belly-to-belly piledriver).[3] Despite impressing WWF management, Wellington didn't received a contract with the WWF and returned to the Canadian Indies.

In June 1992, Wellington and Benoit appeared in World Championship Wrestling at Clash of the Champions XIX, representing Canada in the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament; they were defeated by Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger in the first round.[1] Later that year, Wellington was recognized as the first CRMW North American Heavyweight Champion.

Between 1988 and 1994, Wellington worked on 28 consecutive tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling. In Japan, he feuded with Jushin Thunder Liger and continued to team with Benoit, who was known in Japan as The Pegasus Kid or Wild Pegasus.[1][2] He also worked in the Maritimes as Buddy Hart, and in Mexico.[2]

Wellington had a brief stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1996. He sustained an eye injury in an accident during a match against Taz in May 1996. Wellington then became dependent on prescription medication to prevent nerves in his eye from dying.[4] He retired from active competition after the incident, although he occasionally wrestled in promotions near his hometown such as Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling.

Death

His parents found his body at his home in bed on June 24, 2007, as they were concerned because they had not heard from him since June 20.[1] Medical officials examining the body believe he had been dead for a few days[4] due to a heart attack. He had numerous strokes in 2006 before his passing.[1] Coincidentally, his body was found on the same day his former tag partner, Chris Benoit, was found dead along with his wife and son.

Championships and accomplishments
  • Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling
    • CRMW North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[5]
  • Can-Am Wrestling Federation
    • Can-Am Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Ranked No.420 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2007.[6]
  • Stampede Wrestling
    • Stampede International Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Benoit[4]
gollark: Yes, but you also have all the bad stuff *Windows* is doing.
gollark: I mean, better for *gaming*, sure.
gollark: I don't think it's "best" for development still. Linux still has great tooling for that without mucking with all the Windows nonsense.
gollark: And Windows 10 got its own exciting problems. Like forced updates, *advertising* inside it, random installation of useless junk...
gollark: It's more, well, less bad.

See also

References
  1. Oliver, Greg (June 24, 2007). "Bif Wellington dead at 44". SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
  2. Oliver, Greg (July 21, 2004). "Biff Wellington has no grudge against Benoit". SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
  3. "WWF 1991 Results". The History of the WWE. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  4. "Shayne Bower's Online World of Wrestling profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
  5. "CRMW North American Heavyweight Championship title history". Puroresu Dojo. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  6. "PWI 500". profightdb.com. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.