Travis Tomko (born Warren Travis Tomko, April 1, 1976), is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Tyson Tomko. Tomko is best known for his appearances on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment.
| Travis Tomko | |
|---|---|
| File:Tomko.jpg | |
| Born | April 1, 1976 Jacksonville, Florida |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Travis Bane, Tyson Tomko |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
| Billed weight | 286 lb (130 kg) |
| Billed from | Tombstone, Arizona |
| Trained by | Jim Cornette (OVW), Danny Davis (OVW), Shawn Michaels |
| Debut | 2002 |
Career
World Wrestling Entetainment
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Warren Tomko began training under Hack Myers in 1999 to become a professional wrestler. After years on the Florida independent circuit he was signed to a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) developmental contract and assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to sharpen his skill.
While in OVW he was a member of the Disciples of Synn stable and along with stablemate Seven captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, in MArch of 2003, though they lost them less than a month later to The Acolytes Protection Agency.
RAW
In July of 2003 Tomko began working dark matches for the WWE RAW brand. He made his television debut on the April 19, 2004 RAW, interfering in a Christian vs. Chris Jericho match on Christians behalf and helping him pick up the win. His gimmick has him being called "The Problem Solver" and acting as an "enforcer for hire" for Christian and Trish Stratus in their feud with Chris Jericho. His singles matches were few and far between, with his main goal being ensuring victory for his clients, usually by interfering.
When Christian suffered a (legit) back injury Tomko continued to stand by Stratus and aid her in gaining an advantage in feuds against Jericho, Victoria, and Steven Richards, among others. Upon Christian's return, Tomko immediatley paired with him again, filling the same role as before.
His gimmick eventually evolved into that of a straight man to Christian's over the top character with delusions of grandeur, and Tomko could often be seen on camera shaking his head in disbelief at the situations Christian had put them in.
The duo also wrestled as a tag team (Christian and Tyson Tomko) on occasion, sometimes aligning themselves with Edge as well. Whenever the duo acted alongside Edge, fans considered Tomko the third party in the occasional reunion of Edge and Christian, often jobbing in six-man tag matches.
In June 2005, Edge, Christian and Tomko joined forces with Eric Bischoff in his crusade against Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). They were separated on June 30 when Christian was drafted to SmackDown!.
Now on his own, Tomko was pushed as a "monster heel", winning singles matches by (kayfabe) knock out after hitting a big boot to the back of the head on many jobbers. On RAW, he knocked out both World Tag Team Champions Rosey, and The Hurricane. His winning streak was stopped after being pinned by John Cena two straight weeks on RAW.
Post WWE
In April 2006, Tomko requested and was granted his release from WWE in order to wrestle in Japan. He was reportably upset that he no longer was being pushed in the tag team he'd recently formed with Gene Snitsky, as Goldust had taken his place and the was "repackaged" as Freaks.
Tomko worked the indie circuit again, including dates with the World Wrestling Council, for a while after his release, eventually landing in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW Tomko participated in a Tournament started in July 2006 to crown a new IWGP World Champion, which had been vacated by Brock Lesnar.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Yakuza Kick / Chainsaw Kick (Running arching big boot)
- Argentine neckbreaker
- Tombstone Piledriver (Kneeling belly to belly piledriver) - in OVW
- Gorilla press
- Inverted spinning crucifix neckbreaker
- Running powerslam
- Spinning side slam
- Nicknames
- The Problem Solver
- While on RAW Tomko's used Christians old music for his theme.
Championships and accomplishments
Trivia
- Tomko's tattoos reference Egyptian symbols and his Blackfoot Indian heritage. They took 120 hours to draw.
- Before becoming a wrestler, Tomko spent three years working as a bodyguard for the band Limp Bizkit.
External link
