Willie Mack (wrestler)

Willie Mack
Willie Mack with NWA title.jpg
Mack with the NWA National Championship in March 2019
Birth nameWillie McClinton Jr.[1]
Born (1987-01-05) January 5, 1987 (age 32)
St. Louis, Missouri
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Chocolate Caliente[2]
The Mack[3]
Willie Mack
Willie McClinton[4]
Billed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[5]
Billed weight280 lb (130 kg; 20 st)[5]
Billed fromSouth Central, Los Angeles, California
Trained byJoey Ryan[5][6]
Aaron Aguilera[6]
DebutMay 14, 2006

Willie McClinton Jr.[1] (born January 5, 1987) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Willie Mack. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground. Mack is a former NWA National Heavyweight Champion and outside of those promotions he is known for his time with California-based promotions Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Championship Wrestling from Hollywood.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2006–present)

Mack began his wrestling training while still in high school, but put it on hold until he graduated. He then attended Martin Marin’s WPW Training School in Anaheim, California and wrestled at their weekly events at the Anaheim Marketplace. Knowing that he needed further training, Mack moved on to Bart Kapitzke’s AWS School in Industry, California and began wrestling for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) sanctioned Alternative Wrestling Show.

At AWS, he was noticed by NWA producers and was invited to appear at tapings of NWA Wrestling Showcase,[7] where he had the opportunity to face such wrestlers as Adam Pearce, Brent Albright, Joey Ryan, Chris Escobar and more. Mack also wrestled at the tapings as part of a tag team with his best friend and fellow WPW graduate Jerome Robinson.

Mack began wrestling for another NWA sanctioned group, Mach One Wrestling, who run weekly events at the American Sports Center across the street from where WPW had run previously. Mack was instantly one of the most popular wrestlers in the group. On February 5, 2010[8] after defeating Scorpio Sky in a number one contenders match for the M1W Championship, Mack entered himself into a three-way elimination match later that same evening, making it a four-way. After Joey Ryan and James Morgan were eliminated, Mack defeated reigning champion, Bobby Marshall to claim the title.

On March 5, 2011, Mack lost the M1W Championship to Morgan in a four-way match that also involved Nick Madrid and Andrew Hellman. On November 2, 2013, Mack participated in a tournament to crown the first MexPro Wrestling United States Champion. He defeated Jacob Diez and SoCal Crazy in the semi-finals, but he lost to CJ Kruz in the finale. On November 3, 2013, Mack was defeated by Samoa Joe at Championship Wrestling from Hollywood's Open Door, in a Dream match. On November 14, 2013, Mack was defeated by the CWFH Santino Bros. Wrestling Champion Robby Phoenix.[9] On June 15, 2014 Mack won the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood Red Carpet Rumble in a match which included Matt Striker, X-Pac, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Joey Ryan.[10]

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2010–2014)

Mack debuted for the Southern California company Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on December 11, 2010, winning his first match. It has been acknowledged on DVD commentary that he attended PWG shows as a fan before training to be a wrestler. On March 4, 2011, Mack participated in the 2011 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, pairing with Brandon Gatson in a loss against The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), the eventual winners, in the Opening Round. On May 27, Mack gained a substantial win by upsetting Kevin Steen. He then began a streak of wrestling top names on the independent scene, defeating Chris Hero in the first round of the 2011 Battle of Los Angeles before losing to El Generico, the eventual winner, in the Semifinal Round.[11] On December 10, Mack beat Chris Hero for a second time in what ended up being Hero's PWG exit match. He continued his streak by beating Naruki Doi on January 29 and Roderick Strong on March 17, 2012.

Mack took part in the 2012 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, teaming with El Generico as 2 Husky Black Guys. The duo beat Roderick Strong and the debuting Sami Callihan in the Opening and the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma) in the Semifinal Rounds, before succumbing to the Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Stupefied) in the Final. On May 25, Mack faced and beat debutant Michael Elgin. On July 21 at Threemendous III, PWG's nine-year anniversary event, Mack received a shot at the PWG World Championship, but was defeated by defending champion Kevin Steen. The match saw an interference by Brian Cage, which launched a feud between Cage and Mack.[12] The 2012 Battle of Los Angeles, taking place in September, saw Mack lose against Sami Callihan on Night One. The following month at Failure to Communicate, Mack lost in his first encounter against Brian Cage. At Mystery Vortex on December 1, he faced Cage once more, this time in a match also involving B-Boy and TJ Perkins, with Mack emerging victorious. Mack wrestled his PWG farewell match on August 31, 2014.[13]

WWE signing (2014)

In September 2014, it was reported that McClinton had passed WWE's medical tests and would be reporting to WWE's developmental territory, NXT, in Orlando, Florida. He had been signed to the promotion for a few months at this point.[6] However, only a month later on October 13, 2014, McClinton stated that he had been released from WWE before he had even arrived in Orlando.[14][15] A few years later, McClinton said WWE fired him because a medical test found something wrong with his blood pressure and his knee; however, he suspects he was fired because WWE signed another African American wrestler at the same time that had a better body than him. [14]

Lucha Underground (2015–present)

Mack representing The Crash as part of La Junta in the World Wrestling League

In February 2015, it was announced Mack worked at Lucha Underground's TV Tapings. He wrestled under the ringname The Mack, Big Ryck's cousin.[16] On February 8, 2015, along with Killshot and Big Ryck participated in a tournament for the LU Trios Championship, but they were defeated in the semi-finals by the eventual winners Angélico, Son of Havoc and Ivelisse.[17] Mack was then put into a feud with Cage, who attacked Mack backstage in order to be a part of a trios team with Big Ryck and Davari. Their feud culminated in a falls count anywhere match that saw Mack lose to Cage. On the first set of tapings for season 2 of Lucha Underground Mack defeated the debuting PJ Black using the stunner. Mack was unsuccessful at winning the Lucha Underground Championship against Johnny Mundo in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Mack would team with Dante Fox and Killshot as they defeated Snake Tribe (Drago, Pindar and Vibora) to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship.

Impact Wrestling (2018–present)

On the October 11, 2018 episode of Impact Wrestling's self titled weekly show, Rich Swann announced that Willie would be his tag partner for his match at Bound for Glory (2018) where the new duo would face Matt Sydal and Ethan Page. The team went on be victorious at Bound for Glory. Shortly thereafter Mack began appearing regularly on Impact programming, including a match with Swann in a losing effort against Pentagon Jr. and Fenix.[citation needed]

National Wrestling Alliance (2018–2019)

Mack begun to wrestle for the official re-born National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotion under Billy Corgan. He had returned to wrestling for Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, which the NWA has had a working relationship with since February 2018.[18] Mack was named as the first challenger for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes. Their match took place at the Ring of Honor (ROH) Death Before Dishonor XVI event on September 28, 2018, where he was defeated by Cody.[19][20] At the NWA 70th Anniversary Show on October 21, 2018, Mack defeated Sam Shaw to win the vacant NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Both Mack and Shaw had won separate four-way elimination matches earlier in the card to qualify for the chance to win this title. At the 2019 Crockett Cup, Mack lost the title to Colt Cabana.

Championships and accomplishments

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Johnson, Mike (2014-05-19). "WWE signs top West Coast talent". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  2. ^ http://luchavavoom.com/chocolate-caliente/
  3. ^ "Willie Mack: Profile & Match Listing – Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". www.profightdb.com.
  4. ^ "ARO LUCHA PILOT TV TAPING RESULTS & NOTES FROM NASHVILLE, TN - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Roster". Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  6. ^ a b c d Johnson, Mike (2014-09-01). "WWE signing top California talent (Finally!)". pwinsider.com. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  7. ^ "NWA Wrestling Showcase" – via www.imdb.com.
  8. ^ "M1W 2-19-10 Quick Results - SoCalUNCENSORED.com". 20 February 2010.
  9. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "SBW Weekly Showcase « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.de.
  10. ^ http://www.pwponderings.com/2014/06/16/cwf-hollywood-061514-red-carpet-rumble-results/ Retrieved June 16, 2014
  11. ^ Massingham, Matt (2011-08-21). "8/20 PWG results in Reseda, Calif.: BOLA tournament winner, Young Bucks not shaking hands turned into angle, Tag Title match, Finlay debuts". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  12. ^ Pirrello, Matty; Massingham, Matt (2012-07-22). "7/21 PWG results Reseda, Calif.: Steen defends PWG Title, three-team Tag Title ladder match, Elgin vs. Callihan, Edwards, Strong, Joey Ryan". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
  13. ^ "Show results – 8/31 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 3: The Finals of huge tournament with Styles, former WWE stars, PWG champ, ROH champ, mega-tag match, Willie Mack says good-bye". Pro Wrestling Torch. 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  14. ^ a b "Willie Mack: My WWE Release Left Me Homeless – 411MANIA". 411mania.com.
  15. ^ Johnson, Mike. "Statement from Willie Mack on WWE release". pwinsider.com. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  16. ^ "Willie Mack: Profile & Match Listing – Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". www.profightdb.com.
  17. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Lucha Underground #1.24 – Trios Champions « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  18. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=8907&page=4&search=Cwfh
  19. ^ "NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship to be Defended in Vegas". Ring of Honor. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  20. ^ Death Before Dishonor XVI
  21. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AWS 3rd Annual Women's Tournament « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.de.
  22. ^ +LuchaTV (November 3, 2018). "The Crash VII Aniversario". Mas Luchas (in Spanish). YouTube. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  23. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "HOH 40 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  24. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "HOH Twitch Television Title Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  25. ^ http://www.h8feed.com/IWL/title-history
  26. ^ Meltzer, Dave (July 4, 2016). "July 4, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: NJPW G1 tournament preview, Ali vs. Inoki anniversary, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 33–34. ISSN 1083-9593.
  27. ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=131&page=5&reign=83
  28. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2018". cagematch.net. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  29. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "RPW Summer Rizing « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  30. ^ "Southern California Wrestler of the Year - SoCalUNCENSORED.com".

External links


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