Athletes - Jonnie Stewart

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Jonnie Stewart

	Athletes - Jonnie Stewart

Jon Alan Stewart, better known as The Illustrious Jonnie Stewart, is an American professional wrestler.

Wrestling Career

Jonnie Stewart was born in Chicago on March 4, 1967. Although he was a highly talented and nationally recruited high-school football player, his dream of becoming a professional wrestler was never far from his life-long goals. His twenty-year wrestling career started in 1986 while playing football for Memphis State University, now called, the University of Memphis. Stewart met and was trained by Mid-South legend, Buddy Wayne and he had his first match on April 23rd 1986 at the Tad Smith Coliseum located on the campus of the University of Mississippi. Promoter Jerry Jarrett and booker Jerry Lawler saw Stewart's potential and quickly teamed Stewart with wrestler, Van Van Horn, and called the two the Beach Boys. While the team enjoyed huge success in a short period of time, Stewart, who was only 19 at the time, was homesick and was eventually recruited by Dick the Bruiser for his promotion, the World Wrestling Association based in Indianapolis.

Stewart worked for the WWA for eight months when he was recruited by former AWA worker and Chicago promoter, Sam DeCero. Stewart, DeCero and journeyman wrestler Sonny Rogers started the fledging Windy City Wrestling. He enjoyed great success with Windy City, and in the Spring of 1989 was scouted, interveiwed and hired by the number two promotion in the country, WCW. However, Stewart's deal was quickly blocked by Ric Flair. Paul Heyman recounted the meeting that the decision was made to release Stewart before he even wrestled one match.

"We were in a booking and talent meeting and Jim Barnett, who's orders were to find new, young talent, recruited Brian Pillman, Tom Zenk, Johhny Ace and Stewart. But when Stewart's name came up for a vote of approval, Ric Flair stood up and barked "We don't need another Ric Flair ripoff" and Heyman swears that Flair also threatened the front office that if Stewart was hired he'd quit."

Following the confrontation, WCW released Stewart and he was quickly signed by Verne Gagne and his AWA promotion, based out of Minneapolis. The AWA televised it's shows on ESPN back then and Stewart's televised matches against Sgt. Slaughter, Paul Diamond and Buck Zumhofe, help Stewart quickly became one of the AWA's top draws. In 1989, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Stewart to the top-ten rising superstars in wrestling and runner up to Rookie of the Year award won by the AWA Tag-Team Champions, The Destruction Crew. When the AWA went bankrupt in 1990, Stewart went back to college and played one season of varsity football for the North Park University Vikings.

Finishing and signature moves

The Southern Cal High Life
Elbow Drop
Sleeper Hold
Figure-Four Leg Lock

Stewart's career from 1991 to 1996 was not very memorable. He had a few short appearances for WCW and performed for the now defunct W.I.N.G.S. promotion in Japan. It was in 1996, that Stewart along with friend and former AWA road agent, Dale Gagner, incorporated the AWA in the state of Minnesota and opened up the promotion as AWA Superstars of Wrestling. Stewart than won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on June 6, 1996 at the Mayo Stadium in Rochester, Minnesota defeating Larry Gilgorovich in under twenty minutes.

For ten years, Stewart has been the promotion's Vice President of Talent Relations and one of its most consistent main event performers. Stewart's second AWA career has put him in the main event with legends like: Dusty Rhodes, Road Warrior Hawk, Honky Tonk Man, King Kong Bundy, Sgt. Slaughter, Tito Santana, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Superfly Snuka. Stewart's fifteen matches with former WWE superstar, George "the Animal" Steele (James Meyers) especially a match called the Colorado Bloodbath that took place at the Stampede Arena in 2000, is still the talk of many Internet wrestling chatrooms. Many 'old-school' wrestlers, who have worked Stewart, have gone on the record to claim that, Stewart is one of the easiest wrestlers they have ever worked...which is a very high compliment given to a performer in the wrestling business.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Jonnie Stewart ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Jonnie Stewart; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay