Charles D. Haas, normally Charlie Haas (born March 27, 1972 in Houston, Texas, residing in Dallas, Texas), is an American professional wrestler currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment. Haas has spent much of his wrestling career working as a tag team specialist.
| Charlie Haas | |
|---|---|
| File:CharlieHaasPortrait.jpg | |
| Born | March 27, 1972 Houston, Texas |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | R.C. Haas Charlie Haas Charlie "I.K.M.F" Hass |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg) |
| Billed from | Edmond, Oklahoma |
| Trained by | Jim Kettner John Smith Mike Sharpe |
| Debut | 1996 |
Career
Both Charlie Haas and his brother, Russ, were signed to WWF (now WWE) developmental contracts in Memphis Championship Wrestling but, in late 2001, Russ passed away from a heart ailment. Haas continued wrestling, briefly using the name R.C. Haas (Russ-Charlie Haas), and writing "Russ" on his wrist tape to commemorate his brother.
After working in various developmental territories, Haas debuted in the WWE on December 26, 2002 as a heel along with Shelton Benjamin as "Team Angle." The tag team was the "contingency plan" of Paul Heyman, and were intended to help WWE Champion Kurt Angle retain his title, attacking Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar in an attempt to weaken them. Angle eventually fired Team Angle after he turned face and they began to question his leadership. The duo then became the "(Self-Proclaimed) World's Greatest Tag-Team." The team won the WWE Tag Team Championship on two occasions before being separated when Benjamin was moved from SmackDown! to RAW.
With Benjamin gone, Haas turned face and teamed up with Rico and his valet Miss Jackie to win the tag team titles once again. The team became a dominating force, with the strait-laced Haas clashing with the camp, charismatic Rico. After Rico was released, Haas struck out on his own again, accompanied by Miss Jackie. Haas was later involved in an storyline in which he was in a love triangle with Miss Jackie (acknowledged on air as his fiancèe) and Dawn Marie. The story culminated when Haas served as the referee in a match at Armageddon 2004 between the two women. After the match, Haas left both women. He then formed a tag team with Hardcore Holly.
On July 6, 2005, Haas was released by World Wrestling Entertainment along with his wife, Jackie Gayda. He returned to Jersey All Pro Wrestling that same month, and began a feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship with Jay Lethal. On September 10 at JAPW Haas of Pain, Lethal defeated Haas to retain his title.
In late December 2005 Charlie Haas re-signed with WWE. It was confirmed when he announced at 1PW's Fanslam that he was going to return for WWE full-time but was going to be fulfilling his Indy and overseas commitments first. It is said that he was going to be brought to the RAW roster to be part of Shelton Benjamin's angle with his "Mama".
Charlie Haas returned to OVW on February 22nd losing to Paul Burchill. In that match, Haas tried to use the Angle Slam as one of his finishers.
On Saturday, March 11, 2006 (the birthday of his late brother Russ), Charlie Haas will wrestle the indys one more time. He will face rising star, Stephen Murphy in a match for Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW) in Arlington, Texas at the huge PCW Arena. The match is set to take place at a PCW yearly show called Genocide.
He is also scheduled to be in the Super 8 tournament on April 8.
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
With Russ Haas
- Total Haastility
With Shelton Benjamin
- Superkick (Benjamin) into German suplex (Haas)
- Inverted atomic drop (Haas) followed by superkick (Benjamin) into jackknife pin (Haas)
- Broken Arrow / Shell Shocker / The World's Greatest Double Team / Leap Frog (Leapfrog body guillotine)
- Star Spangled Banner (Double arm drag over the knee)
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time Natural Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time CZW Tag Team Champion (with Russ Haas)
- 1-time ECWA Tag Team Champion (with Russ Haas)
- ECWA Hall of Fame inductee (2004)
- 1-time HWA Heavyweight Champion
- 2-time JAPW Tag Team Champion (with Russ Haas)
- 3-time MCW Southern Tag Team Champion (with Russ Haas)
- 2002 OVW Russ Haas Memorial Tag Team Tournament winner (with Nova)
- PCW (Pennsylvania) Tag Team Champion
- PWI 2003 Tag Team of the Year Award (with Shelton Benjamin)
- 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion (2-time with Shelton Benjamin, 1-time with Rico)
Personal life
On June 10, 2005, Haas married Jackie Gayda. His best man was Shelton Benjamin.