FACTion: An Organized Group of Useless Wrestling Facts, Stats and Trivia Tidbits

Brian Damage

Welcome to yet another edition of useless wrestling facts, stats and other stuff to entertain you and perhaps enrich your lives. Some of these informational nuggets of truth may be well known by the masses, while others…not so much. In either case, they are simply meant for fun and enjoyment. They won’t help you graduate or get a good job, but they will give you useless knowledge on a business we all love and cherish…professional wrestling. So sit back or stand up and let’s learn a thing or two about a thing or two.

‘The Nature Boy’ Ric(k) Flair made his debut for the McMahon Family back on April 26, 1976 for the then WWWF. He wrestled one match at Madison Square Garden and defeated journeyman Frankie Williams.

Terri Boatright Runnels once competed in bodybuilding competitions long before her career in pro wrestling.

Bruiser Brody was set to get the role of one of the lead villains in the Sylvester Stallone movie ‘Over the Top’ back in 1987. He turned it down when told by the producers that he would have to stop wrestling while filming. The role eventually went to Terry Funk instead.

Did you know that TNA briefly had a mascot in 2007? Its name was ‘Stomper’ the Kangaroo and it was longtime TNA referee Brian Stifler in the costume.

AEW’s Kenny Omega has an MMA record of 6 wins and 2 losses. One of those defeats was against former NWA champion and UFC champ Dan Severn.

Joannie ‘Chyna’ Laurer also tried her hand at MMA while in Japan.

Former TNA/Impact wrestler and star in Scottish wrestling Grado…got his name after a night of drinking. He was drunk and decided to go to a tattoo parlor. He told the artist to put anything he wanted on his arm and the artist wrote Grado. They name stuck with him ever since.

Keith Lee was turned down by WWE on three different occasions. After his third rejection, Lee seriously contemplated on retirement.

Luke ‘Doc’ Gallows is actually younger than fellow Bullet Club alumni Karl Anderson, AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Kenny Omega.

Shawn Michaels briefly worked as a high school sports reporter for a TV station in San Antonio, Texas in 1999 after leaving the WWF.

New Japan’s Bushi owns a small take out restaurant called Marubu Shouten.

We are all aware of the various tragedies that befell the Von Erich family through the years. One of the least mentioned of those tragic events occurred in 1978. David Von Erich and his first wife Candy had a daughter named Natosha Zoeanna Adkisson. She died just three months after her birth. The stress of losing a child eventually caused the couple to divorce.

The One Man Gang wrestled for ECW in 1998/1999 and was once briefly a member of the Full Blooded Italians (FBI)

David Flair handed John Cena his first loss in WWE’s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling.

WCW commissioned new tag team title belts two weeks before being sold to WWF/WWE. They were never used.

Seth Rollins debut with WWE was against Vance Archer (AEW’s Lance Archer) for Florida Championship Wrestling. Rollins pinned Archer in the match.

JJ Dillon managed both Nature Boy Ric Flair and Nature Boy Buddy Landel. Dillon also used to be tag team partners with Nature Boy Roger Kirby. Did you know that JJ Dillon himself was also known as ‘Nature Boy’ Dillon?