Charles Ronald (Chuck) Palumbo (born June 15, 1971 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American professional wrestler, who has previously performed for WCW and is currently working for WWE in Deep South Wrestling.
| Chuck Palumbo | |
|---|---|
| File:Palumbo.jpg | |
| Born | June 15, 1971 Providence, Rhode Island |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Chuck Palumbo, Jungle Jim, The Main Event, The Dude, Custom Chucky P |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.97 m) |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Trained by | Paul Orndorff WCW Power Plant |
| Debut | 1998 |
Wrestling career
World Championship Wrestling
Palumbo was offered a training contract by WCW in April 1999, just six months after he first stepped foot into a wrestling ring. In May 2000 Chuck Palumbo made his debut with a brief fued with Lex Luger before joining the "New Blood" faction
The next month Palumbo would form the team "The Perfect Event" with Shawn Stasiak and the pair would go on to win WCW tag team gold together. The pairs main feud was against Kronik (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark). In August Stasiak and Palumbo helped form the Natural Born Thrillers with Mike Sanders, Sean O'Haire, Mark Jindrak, Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli and Reno. They were briefly "coached" by Kevin Nash.
Palumbo and Stasiak won the WCW Tag team gold two more times before spliting in early January, 2001 when he and Stasiak won a tag team battle royal with Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak for a future tag team title shot. After the conclusion of the match Mike Sanders declared both teams victorious and that only one member from each team would pair up to face The Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash). Palumbo and Stasiak split, Palumbo would begin teaming with Sean O'Haire who would later defeat The Insiders to become tag team champions while Shawn Stasiak and Mark Jindrak would also begin teaming togeather.
In January 2001, The Natural Born thrillers broke up when, The team of Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak would become jealous of Palumbo and O'Haire. The teams would face each other at WCW Superbrawl on February 18th, 2001 for the tag team titles. Palumbo and O'Haire retained their titles.
Palumbo and O'Haire came into the WWF (now WWE) in late June, 2001 as part of The Alliance, Chuck and Sean dropped the WCW Tag Team titles to The Undertaker and Kane in mid- August, 2001.
Later on Sean was sent to developmental territory in early September, 2001 and Chuck was thrown out of The Alliance in late October, 2001 and so he joined the WWF in November, 2001.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
In late 2001, Chuck Palumbo found himself a tag team partner in Billy Gunn, the pair later given a gimmick that saw the pair grow increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a homosexual relationship.
On the February 21, 2002 edition of SmackDown! Billy and Chuck defeat Tazz & Spike Dudley to win the WWF World Tag Team Championships. They even found a "personal stylist" in March 21, 2002, the ambiguously flamboyant Rico.
On May 19th, 2002 Billy and Chuck lost the tag team gold to Rikishi and Rico, who was forced to team with Rikishi. Less than a month later Rico would help Billy and Chuck recapture their titles, but this reign wouldnt last long when Billy & Chuck lost the titles to Edge and Hulk Hogan.
In the late summer of 2002, Billy and Chuck were the source of controversy when Chuck apparently proposed to Billy on September 5th, 2002 edition of SmackDown! asking him to be his "partner for life." Billy and Chuck had a marriage ceremony on the 2002 season premiere of SmackDown! Just before they tied the knot, however, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt, and both characters disavowed their on-screen homosexuality and when Billy And Chuck they decided not to go through with the marriage, Rico turned on Billy and Chuck by helping Eric Bischoff and manage 3-Minute Warning attack Billy and Chuck and jumping to RAW. Billy And Chuck faced 3-Minute Warning at WWE Unforgiven 2002 but lost.
Billy Gunn would later get injured in early October, 2002 and Chuck Palumbo was lost without a gimmick, becoming a regular on Smackdown!'s sister-show WWE Velocity for a few months.
Palumbo was a member of the Full Blooded Italians (F.B.I) in WWE, a faction which had previously been seen in the ECW promotion. After a beating at the hands of Rikishi, Nunzio, threatened to bring in his "family" in order to gain revenge. The next week, Chuck Palumbo and Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli joined with Nunzio to form the F.B.I. and attacked Rikishi.
This version initially gained little success, but would go on to have brief feuds with Los Guerreros, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, Brian Kendrick, Nathan Jones, APA, and The Undertaker. When the group turned face it grew in popularity and just when the group was starting to get over with the fans it was disbanded, as Chuck was sent to the RAW brand.
After Chuck was traded to the RAW brand It was not long before Palumbo was a regular on RAW's sister-show WWE Heat, where he wrestled with the nickname "Custom Chucky P" with some sort of car mechanic/enthusiast gimmick.
On November 3, 2004 Chuck Palumbo along with Gail Kim and Nidia were released by WWE, and on November 4, 2004 Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli was released by WWE. After his release Palumbo went on to work for All Japan Pro Wrestling.
After WWE
Chuck Palumbo, along with the later released Johnny Stamboli, went on to become a member of Voodoo Murderers, AJPW's main heel group, and took part a heated feud against RO&D.
Stamboli and Palumbo's next stop would be with the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion in Italy, where the pair reformed the FBI, using the gimmick to make themselves the top babyfaces in the promotion.
Both he and Stamboli, would also make appearances in a World Wrestling Council show where they challenged Ulitmo Dragon, Mistical, and Negro Guerrero, in a tag match which the would win; securing both the first and third falls.
Return to WWE
After the WWE Tribute to the Troops RAW special on December 19, 2005 in Afghanistan rumors of Chuck Palumbo Returning to WWE came up. It was announced by Dave Meltzer that WWE had an interest in bringing back Chuck Palumbo due to the fact his brother is something of a war hero in Afghanistan. John Bradshaw Layfield mentioned on television that war hero Chris Palumbo is "the brother of one of our wrestlers."
During March 2006, Chuck Palumbo had dark matches with WWE losing to Rob Van Dam and Matt Hardy before the WWE RAW and SmackDown! tapings respectively. On March 13 2006, it was announced on WWE.com that Chuck Palumbo would make his return to the WWE in an exclusive interview, he claimed that he was happy to be returning and that he looks forward to a singles competition with a goal of winning a WWE Championship.
In wrestling
- Kevin Nash (coach)
- Rico
Finishing and signature moves
- Jungle Kick / Whack! / International Business Organization Kick (Superkick)
- Italian Drop / 187 (Fallaway-Samoan Drop)
- Chuck Deluxe (Belly to Belly Suplex)
- Torture Rack
- Padlock (Inverted Boston Crab)
- Turnbuckle Powerbomb
Nicknames
- "The Event"
- "Chucky P"
- "Jungle Man"
- "Chucky" (with Billy)
Championships and accomplishments
- 2-time WWE World Tag-Team Champion (with Billy)
- 4-time WCW World Tag-Team Champion (3-time with Shawn Stasiak, 1-time with Sean O'Haire)
- 2002 PWI Tag Team of the Year Award (with Billy)