Post by styg on Aug 11, 2020 9:42:46 GMT
WRESTLER INFO
Real Name: Russell Ledbetter.
Ring Name: Russ Lehman.
Nicknames: The One Man Tank Rush; Def Knight.
Height: 6'6" / 1.98m.
Weight: 262lbs / 119kg.
Billed From: Carlisle, England.
Originally From: Carlisle, England.
Current Residence: Carlisle, England.
Gender: Male.
Date of Birth: 18/07/1983.
Physical Description: Huge with a powerful, muscular frame - although years of beer and videogames have given him a bit of a gut. White, with long sandy blond hair and grey-blue eyes. Usually a light beard or stubble. A few tattoos, most prominently a space invader on his left shoulder and a cartoonish 40K Ultramarine on his right. He also has a gnarly scar on his chest, courtesy of Kuma-Te the Bloodsport Panda, though that's normally hidden by his ring gear.
Picture Base: Who's ya hero? It's Chris Hero.
Ring Attire: Long tights, usually in British racing green with embossed circuitboard designs; black or very dark green boots; muscle shirt; white (or occasionally black) wrist tape; metal bead necklace. During his entrance he wears a long leather duster and wraparound shades, and occasionally a Natural Ones T-shirt cut up to hang like a poncho. For big matches, he changes up his usual colour scheme to co-ordinate with Anson, typically adopting Natural Ones themed takes on famous gaming-related symbols or colour schemes.
Regular Attire: Usually a sleeveless top, trackies or shorts, and trainers. He's definitely a comfort over style guy. When he has to be smart, he does a suit jacket over a neutral sweater. He might still be wearing trackies or shorts.
Manager: Savannah Lyons.
Character's Twitter: @silent_schwa
BIOGRAPHY
Personality: As a huge, sarcastic, laidback stoner-nerd, Russ is the proverbial quiet giant - he doesn't speak much and despite his imposing size he doesn't command the spotlight particularly. But quiet shouldn't be mistaken for timorous. He's powerfully intelligent and perceptive, tends to remain calm and rational in times of stress, and although he's not one for proclaiming his greatness, he's perfectly confident, viewing most obstacles in life as a challenge rather than a threat. He only really gets animated when he's discussing one of his pet topics (such as comic books, strategy games, old British sci-fi, or rap music), at which point he can get kind of overbearing. Given his technical-minded smarts, lack of gregariousness or charisma, and tendency towards specialist subjects, people sometimes kind of assume he's on the autism spectrum somewhere, but rather than autism he actually has an unusually-presenting form of ADHD.
Personal History: As a kid, Russ always dreamed of one thing alone: playing pro basketball. He was training towards that in his youth until a severe quad tear ended his hoop dreams. During his rehab, he ended up transitioning into amateur wrestling, which ended up becoming his new goal. But his parents insisted he get some academic qualifications and refused to assist him financially until he had, so he undertook a degree in computer science and electronic engineering. His appetite for wrestling hadn't diminished and as soon as he graduated uni, he relocated to Manchester to train at The Superstar Factory.
For many years, even after his wrestling career had taken off, Russ maintained a part-time job as a programmer for a mid-sized tech firm. Not because he needed the money or anything - simply to keep his mind sharp. Even now, he occasionally hires himself out as a freelance system debugger and coding consultant for the same reason. Russ, Anson and Savannah also host regular Twitch streams together and maintain a gaming-oriented YouTube channel.
The one thing consistently lacking in Russ's life has been love. He had a massive crush on Reese Black during his time in GEW but it never went anywhere - in fact, he never even told her. He and Evangelista were fuckbuddies for a bit, but now she's married with a kid. Now he has a similar thing with Katie Brookmyre, but there's no way it could work out as an actual relationship and they both know it.
Career History: Russ was part of The Superstar Factory's most successful graduating group, the class of 2006, which also included Jay Pride, Baby Dogg, Amy Ngoudje, Jonny Icon and Sheriff John Stone. His early years on the British indies were... fine. He didn't blow up, he didn't bottom out. That turned around when he met a visiting American, Anson Orlandelli; the two found they had a natural rapport both in and out of the ring, and they decided to form a full time tag team with Anson's girlfriend Savannah Lyons lending them her psychology and business skills as their manager. The feeling was that they had more potential as a unit than as singles stars, at least in the short term; over fifteen years and numerous tag team championships later, they're firmly established as a successful veteran team.
Their first major promotion as a team was Global Extreme Wrestling where, despite never winning the Tag Team Championship, they did win the Team of the Year award in 2008. Since then they've worked all over the UK and North America, most prominently for XWA BattleZone, Twin City Wrestling and Fight Club UK - where they're entrenched as the divisional aces, as record five-time Hope & Glory Tag Team Champions and thrice winners of the annual Hope & Glory Shield tournament. In 2021 and 2022, while Anson was injured, Russ also proved himself as a singles star, briefly winning the company's top title, the British Openweight Championship.
Associates:
* Anson Orlandelli, his tag team partner, and their manager (and Anson's wife) Savannah Lyons.
* Still friendly with many of his fellow Superstar Factory 2006 graduates like Jay Pride, Baby Dogg and Amy Ngoudje.
* The crew surrounding Jay and Jackie Boy Warner's Manchester gym Caledonian, such as Evangelista, Laurel Anne Hardy and Katie Brookmyre.
Title History:
* 1 x XWA World Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 1 x 2CW Interstate Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 2 x 2CW Texas Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 1 x N3W Heavyweight Champion
* 1 x WCC United Kingdom Champion
* 1 x LUKWS Tag Team Champion (with Jonny Icon)
* Fight Club UK Hope & Glory Shield 2015; 2016; 2018 (with Anson Orlandelli)
MATCH-WRITING INFO
Entrance Theme: The Herbaliser feat. Blade - "Who's Really The Realest?"
Entrance Description: The Herbaliser's "Who's Really The Realest?" hits the PA system and Russ Lehman steps out, with Anson Orlandelli trailing just behind him. They're both wearing long coats and shades, and Anson starts pointing to his boy and hyping him up aggrandisingly. Russ remains impassive, simply looking around the arena. The Natural Ones begin their journey to the ring, Anson continuing to yell and big the team up as they go. When he reaches the ring, Russ slides in and raises his arms, then climbs a turnbuckle and shouts as he points to himself. Anson, meanwhile, is busy posing for selfies with fans at ringside. Russ drops down, walks to the opposite corner, and heads up again where he raises his arms while his name is called. Then he hops back down and nods a greeting to the ring announcer. As the music fades, he shrugs off his leather duster and hands it to Anson through the ropes, followed by his shades.
Fighting Style & Mindset: Given his sharp mind he favours technical wrestling in a hybrid of British and American styles, backed up with the raw power that naturally comes with his size. He never stops watching and formulating, is resistant to mind games, and has outstanding ring awareness; he's definitely the type to target specific body parts, lull an opponent into attempting high-risk manoeuvres, or cut off areas of the ring. He's not an inveterate cheater like Anson but he's willing to break the rules a bit, preferably in inventive ways that let him show off his smarts, though he's pragmatic enough to take more conventional shortcuts too.
He doesn't get intimidated by his opponents no matter how brutal or decorated or gifted they might be, preferring to view them as a puzzle to solve. Additionally, he has high endurance for battling through immediate pain and is crazy strong, helpful both for yeeting people around and for leveraging in his stretches and takedowns.
Russ's main weakness is that he's slow; he needs to ground smaller, faster opponents because he just can't keep pace with them, a problem exacerbated by the fact he's not in the greatest shape and has poor stamina for long fights. And his left quadriceps is slightly weak thanks to a severe injury in his youth.
Primary Finisher:
01. "Go2Ten" - Argentine rack into knee kick to back of skull (inverted Go 2 Sleep).
Alternative Finisher:
01. "Dragon Boom EX Plus Alpha" - Stepover pinning electric chair driver.
Signature Moves / Spots:
01. "Depleted Uranium" - Busaiku knee kick; he hits it like a freight train, but it takes him a couple of seconds to get back up from it himself, so it's not really a finisher except in desperate circumstances. ALWAYS uses the right leg to strike.
02. "Dragon Boom" - Impact electric chair driver. Original finisher, so it might still win some lesser matches here and there.
03. "Hard Reset" - Inverted brainbuster.
04. "Tank Rush" - Lifting spinebuster-style spear, driving his shoulder up under the opponent's ribcage.
05. "Windmill Slam" - Uses a running opponent's momentum to lift them into a military press, and as one motion, turns and drops them into a sitout inverted powerbomb.
06. Coast-to-coast running buckle bomb.
07. Package powerbomb as a counter to opponents on the top rope.
08. Heaving opponents into throws out of submission holds.
Common Moves:
01. Abdominal stretch.
02. Atomic or Manhattan drop.
03. Backdrop suplex.
04. Basement dropkick.
05. Bearhug (sometimes into a release overhead throw).
06. Bow and arrow stretch.
07. Clotheslines and lariats, in various forms.
08. Cut-throat hangman's neckbreaker.
09. Fireman's carry takeover, often into something like a kneeling chinlock, hammerlock etc.
10. Fisherman suplex (usually bridging if he can).
11. German suplex (bridging or release).
12. Hammerlock with forearm clubs to the back of the neck.
13. Hammerlock suplex.
14. Inverted DDT.
15. Kneeling armbar.
16. Military press slam.
17. Powerbombs, of assorted flavours.
18. Running shoulder tackle.
19. Samoan drop.
20. Scoop powerslam.
21. Stalling vertical suplex.
22. Standing leg drop.
23. Standing seated senton.
24. Straightjacket choke.
25. Texas piledriver.
Weapon of Choice: Guitar Hero controller.
Match of Choice: Tag team, with Anson.
Real Name: Russell Ledbetter.
Ring Name: Russ Lehman.
Nicknames: The One Man Tank Rush; Def Knight.
Height: 6'6" / 1.98m.
Weight: 262lbs / 119kg.
Billed From: Carlisle, England.
Originally From: Carlisle, England.
Current Residence: Carlisle, England.
Gender: Male.
Date of Birth: 18/07/1983.
Physical Description: Huge with a powerful, muscular frame - although years of beer and videogames have given him a bit of a gut. White, with long sandy blond hair and grey-blue eyes. Usually a light beard or stubble. A few tattoos, most prominently a space invader on his left shoulder and a cartoonish 40K Ultramarine on his right. He also has a gnarly scar on his chest, courtesy of Kuma-Te the Bloodsport Panda, though that's normally hidden by his ring gear.
Picture Base: Who's ya hero? It's Chris Hero.
Ring Attire: Long tights, usually in British racing green with embossed circuitboard designs; black or very dark green boots; muscle shirt; white (or occasionally black) wrist tape; metal bead necklace. During his entrance he wears a long leather duster and wraparound shades, and occasionally a Natural Ones T-shirt cut up to hang like a poncho. For big matches, he changes up his usual colour scheme to co-ordinate with Anson, typically adopting Natural Ones themed takes on famous gaming-related symbols or colour schemes.
Regular Attire: Usually a sleeveless top, trackies or shorts, and trainers. He's definitely a comfort over style guy. When he has to be smart, he does a suit jacket over a neutral sweater. He might still be wearing trackies or shorts.
Manager: Savannah Lyons.
Character's Twitter: @silent_schwa
BIOGRAPHY
Personality: As a huge, sarcastic, laidback stoner-nerd, Russ is the proverbial quiet giant - he doesn't speak much and despite his imposing size he doesn't command the spotlight particularly. But quiet shouldn't be mistaken for timorous. He's powerfully intelligent and perceptive, tends to remain calm and rational in times of stress, and although he's not one for proclaiming his greatness, he's perfectly confident, viewing most obstacles in life as a challenge rather than a threat. He only really gets animated when he's discussing one of his pet topics (such as comic books, strategy games, old British sci-fi, or rap music), at which point he can get kind of overbearing. Given his technical-minded smarts, lack of gregariousness or charisma, and tendency towards specialist subjects, people sometimes kind of assume he's on the autism spectrum somewhere, but rather than autism he actually has an unusually-presenting form of ADHD.
Personal History: As a kid, Russ always dreamed of one thing alone: playing pro basketball. He was training towards that in his youth until a severe quad tear ended his hoop dreams. During his rehab, he ended up transitioning into amateur wrestling, which ended up becoming his new goal. But his parents insisted he get some academic qualifications and refused to assist him financially until he had, so he undertook a degree in computer science and electronic engineering. His appetite for wrestling hadn't diminished and as soon as he graduated uni, he relocated to Manchester to train at The Superstar Factory.
For many years, even after his wrestling career had taken off, Russ maintained a part-time job as a programmer for a mid-sized tech firm. Not because he needed the money or anything - simply to keep his mind sharp. Even now, he occasionally hires himself out as a freelance system debugger and coding consultant for the same reason. Russ, Anson and Savannah also host regular Twitch streams together and maintain a gaming-oriented YouTube channel.
The one thing consistently lacking in Russ's life has been love. He had a massive crush on Reese Black during his time in GEW but it never went anywhere - in fact, he never even told her. He and Evangelista were fuckbuddies for a bit, but now she's married with a kid. Now he has a similar thing with Katie Brookmyre, but there's no way it could work out as an actual relationship and they both know it.
Career History: Russ was part of The Superstar Factory's most successful graduating group, the class of 2006, which also included Jay Pride, Baby Dogg, Amy Ngoudje, Jonny Icon and Sheriff John Stone. His early years on the British indies were... fine. He didn't blow up, he didn't bottom out. That turned around when he met a visiting American, Anson Orlandelli; the two found they had a natural rapport both in and out of the ring, and they decided to form a full time tag team with Anson's girlfriend Savannah Lyons lending them her psychology and business skills as their manager. The feeling was that they had more potential as a unit than as singles stars, at least in the short term; over fifteen years and numerous tag team championships later, they're firmly established as a successful veteran team.
Their first major promotion as a team was Global Extreme Wrestling where, despite never winning the Tag Team Championship, they did win the Team of the Year award in 2008. Since then they've worked all over the UK and North America, most prominently for XWA BattleZone, Twin City Wrestling and Fight Club UK - where they're entrenched as the divisional aces, as record five-time Hope & Glory Tag Team Champions and thrice winners of the annual Hope & Glory Shield tournament. In 2021 and 2022, while Anson was injured, Russ also proved himself as a singles star, briefly winning the company's top title, the British Openweight Championship.
Associates:
* Anson Orlandelli, his tag team partner, and their manager (and Anson's wife) Savannah Lyons.
* Still friendly with many of his fellow Superstar Factory 2006 graduates like Jay Pride, Baby Dogg and Amy Ngoudje.
* The crew surrounding Jay and Jackie Boy Warner's Manchester gym Caledonian, such as Evangelista, Laurel Anne Hardy and Katie Brookmyre.
Title History:
* GEW Tag Team of the Year 2008 (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 1 x WUC British Openweight Champion
* 1 x WUC Admiral's Rules Champion
* 5 x WUC Hope & Glory Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)* 1 x XWA World Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 1 x 2CW Interstate Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 2 x 2CW Texas Tag Team Champion (with Anson Orlandelli)
* 1 x N3W Heavyweight Champion
* 1 x WCC United Kingdom Champion
* 1 x LUKWS Tag Team Champion (with Jonny Icon)
* Fight Club UK Hope & Glory Shield 2015; 2016; 2018 (with Anson Orlandelli)
MATCH-WRITING INFO
Entrance Theme: The Herbaliser feat. Blade - "Who's Really The Realest?"
Entrance Description: The Herbaliser's "Who's Really The Realest?" hits the PA system and Russ Lehman steps out, with Anson Orlandelli trailing just behind him. They're both wearing long coats and shades, and Anson starts pointing to his boy and hyping him up aggrandisingly. Russ remains impassive, simply looking around the arena. The Natural Ones begin their journey to the ring, Anson continuing to yell and big the team up as they go. When he reaches the ring, Russ slides in and raises his arms, then climbs a turnbuckle and shouts as he points to himself. Anson, meanwhile, is busy posing for selfies with fans at ringside. Russ drops down, walks to the opposite corner, and heads up again where he raises his arms while his name is called. Then he hops back down and nods a greeting to the ring announcer. As the music fades, he shrugs off his leather duster and hands it to Anson through the ropes, followed by his shades.
Fighting Style & Mindset: Given his sharp mind he favours technical wrestling in a hybrid of British and American styles, backed up with the raw power that naturally comes with his size. He never stops watching and formulating, is resistant to mind games, and has outstanding ring awareness; he's definitely the type to target specific body parts, lull an opponent into attempting high-risk manoeuvres, or cut off areas of the ring. He's not an inveterate cheater like Anson but he's willing to break the rules a bit, preferably in inventive ways that let him show off his smarts, though he's pragmatic enough to take more conventional shortcuts too.
He doesn't get intimidated by his opponents no matter how brutal or decorated or gifted they might be, preferring to view them as a puzzle to solve. Additionally, he has high endurance for battling through immediate pain and is crazy strong, helpful both for yeeting people around and for leveraging in his stretches and takedowns.
Russ's main weakness is that he's slow; he needs to ground smaller, faster opponents because he just can't keep pace with them, a problem exacerbated by the fact he's not in the greatest shape and has poor stamina for long fights. And his left quadriceps is slightly weak thanks to a severe injury in his youth.
Primary Finisher:
01. "Go2Ten" - Argentine rack into knee kick to back of skull (inverted Go 2 Sleep).
Alternative Finisher:
01. "Dragon Boom EX Plus Alpha" - Stepover pinning electric chair driver.
Signature Moves / Spots:
01. "Depleted Uranium" - Busaiku knee kick; he hits it like a freight train, but it takes him a couple of seconds to get back up from it himself, so it's not really a finisher except in desperate circumstances. ALWAYS uses the right leg to strike.
02. "Dragon Boom" - Impact electric chair driver. Original finisher, so it might still win some lesser matches here and there.
03. "Hard Reset" - Inverted brainbuster.
04. "Tank Rush" - Lifting spinebuster-style spear, driving his shoulder up under the opponent's ribcage.
05. "Windmill Slam" - Uses a running opponent's momentum to lift them into a military press, and as one motion, turns and drops them into a sitout inverted powerbomb.
06. Coast-to-coast running buckle bomb.
07. Package powerbomb as a counter to opponents on the top rope.
08. Heaving opponents into throws out of submission holds.
Common Moves:
01. Abdominal stretch.
02. Atomic or Manhattan drop.
03. Backdrop suplex.
04. Basement dropkick.
05. Bearhug (sometimes into a release overhead throw).
06. Bow and arrow stretch.
07. Clotheslines and lariats, in various forms.
08. Cut-throat hangman's neckbreaker.
09. Fireman's carry takeover, often into something like a kneeling chinlock, hammerlock etc.
10. Fisherman suplex (usually bridging if he can).
11. German suplex (bridging or release).
12. Hammerlock with forearm clubs to the back of the neck.
13. Hammerlock suplex.
14. Inverted DDT.
15. Kneeling armbar.
16. Military press slam.
17. Powerbombs, of assorted flavours.
18. Running shoulder tackle.
19. Samoan drop.
20. Scoop powerslam.
21. Stalling vertical suplex.
22. Standing leg drop.
23. Standing seated senton.
24. Straightjacket choke.
25. Texas piledriver.
Weapon of Choice: Guitar Hero controller.
Match of Choice: Tag team, with Anson.
