Big Dick Dudley

Alexander Rizzo (January 12, 1968 – May 16, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Big Dick Dudley. Rizzo was best known for his appearances with the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1994 to 1999 as a member of The Dudley Brothers.

Alexander Rizzo
Big Dick Dudley
Birth nameAlexander Rizzo
Born(1968-01-12)January 12, 1968
New Jersey, US
DiedMay 16, 2002(2002-05-16) (aged 34)
Copiague, New York, US
Cause of deathKidney failure
Spouse(s)Elektra (divorced)
Children2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Alexander The Great
Big Dick Dudley
Billed height6 ft 7 in (201 cm)[1]
Billed weight320 lb (145 kg)[1]
Billed from"The Twisted Steel Section of Dudleyville"
Trained byJohnny Rodz
Debut1986

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1986–1994)

Rizzo began training with Johnny Rodz alongside the likes of Taz, Phil Theis and the Santiago Twins and became one of the first students to graduate from the now infamous school in Brooklyn. He claimed his first professional matches came in late 1986 in Puerto Rico alongside fellow Rodz students and future ECW alumni Rocco Rock and Abdullah the Butcher. He returned to the U.S. after his tour of Puerto Rico and began wrestling on the East Coast independent scene under the name of Alexander the Great. While being a monster wrestler with a great physique, Rizzo rarely became the star attraction.

NWA Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994–1999)

Rizzo joined Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1994. He entered just as the federation began to take off, breaking away from its National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) ties and becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling. This allowed Rizzo a chance to shine, and he took it, transforming into Big Dick Dudley, the man from Dudleyville, a creation he said was thought up between himself, Taz and Tommy Dreamer.

With his partner, Dudley Dudley, the "brothers" became a strong group in ECW, with their strong-arm antics. Big Dick became known for his powerhouse finisher, the Total Penetration, a double arm chokeslam into a tigerbomb, as well as his dangerous habit of attacking fans at ringside. Soon, the Dudley Family grew, including Buh Buh Ray, D-Von, Snot, Spike, and Dances with Dudley, creating a very dangerous family. Big Dick, being the eldest as well as the largest, formed the heart of the group, planning out attacks and leading the group. He also had to deal with brotherly problems, including feuds with D-Von and Spike.

Although Big Dick was the leader of the family, he rarely was given title shots, instead content to sit back and direct his brothers in their quests for gold. His aid to Buh Buh Ray and D-Von helped create the great tag team that was The Dudley Boyz, and his giant stature made Spike even more popular in their feud. As some of the Dudley family left, the remaining members, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von, became Tag Team Champions. They soon became top heels in the company. He also carried on an almost year-long feud with Spike, the biggest brother against the smallest, with the fans firmly on the side of the underdog. In 1999, after many disagreements with Paul Heyman over what Rizzo felt was a lack of use of his character he finally left the company. Rizzo went on record after his departure saying that he felt he never got the opportunities he deserved, going as far as saying that he felt that given the chance he could have become the top draw in the company.

Independent circuit (1999–2002)

After Big Dick left ECW he would spend time in many different organizations over the next couple of years including making his Puerto Rico return for Carlos Colon's WWC becoming a mainstay over the next few years wrestling the likes of a young Carly Colon, Abdullah the Butcher and the infamous Invader I. He had reasonable success in WWC becoming one of the bigger heels in the company but never capturing any titles possibly due to the fact that his tours tended to be reasonably frequent but brief. It was during his time in Puerto Rico that he worked in front of the biggest crowds of his career stating that some of his heel antics caused near riots during events.

In 1999 helped found the semi-popular XPW, known, like ECW, for its hardcore antics. At one point, Big Dick took home the XPW World Heavyweight Championship. He would go on to earn belts in the NWA Jersey faction and the USPW federation. But things soon began to go downhill for the senior member of the Dudleyz. In only two years, Big Dick was involved in four auto accidents, including a serious motorcycle crash that left him with a broken neck. This kept Big Dick on the sidelines of wrestling for over a year.

Personal life

Rizzo was married to fellow wrestler Donna "Elektra" Adamo, who he met while training under Johnny Rodz.[2] The couple divorced prior to Rizzo's death in May 2002. Rizzo had a daughter, Alexandria (born in 1990 to Adamo) and a son, Alex Jr. (born in 1997 to a different spouse).

Rizzo also had a reputation of being a legitimate "badass", as tough outside the ring as inside the ring. For example, in a shoot interview with the Dudley Boyz produced by RF Video, Bubba Ray Dudley claims to have seen him beat up five people on his own in a nightclub on Long Island. He was also known to have a "dead" hand, due to nerve damage from putting it through a plate glass window. As a result, he was unable to feel any pain in the hand.

Death

On May 16, 2002, Rizzo was found dead in his apartment due to kidney failure.[3]

Championships and accomplishments
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See also

References
  1. "Wrestlingdata.com – The World's Largest Wrestling Database". WrestlingData.
  2. Rod Siciliano (23 May 2002). "An interview with Elektra by Chairshots Radio". Chairshots Radio. Westerly, Rhode Island. WBLQ (88.1 FM). "(Elektra:) It's real funny actually on how we met. When I had come back from actually Moolah's camp in South Carolina. I really needed to learn to work like the American workers. Which would be off of the left because Moolah trains off to the right, more like to go to Japan or overseas, that's where there is more work for the women. So I started training at Johnny Rodz's school, which at the time was at the Galaxy Gym, it wasn't yet at Gleason's".
  3. Muchnick, Irv (2007). Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal. ECW Press. p. 148.
  4. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  5. "Solie's Title Histories: NWA - CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING AMERICA (New Jersey)". Solie.org. 2000-08-24. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  6. "Solie's Title Histories: NWA - CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING AMERICA (New Jersey)". Solie.org. 2000-02-02. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  7. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=419&view=awards#awards
  8. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=419&view=erfolge#erfolge
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