Athletes - Peter Polaco

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	Athletes - Peter Polaco

Peter Joseph (P.J.) Polaco (born October 16, 1973 in Ozone Park, New York) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, competing under the name Justin Credible.

Career

Peter Polaco travelled to Canada in order to train at the famous Hart Dungeon in Calgary, Alberta with Stu Hart, Keith Hart and his future tag team partner, Lance Storm. He wrestled his first match on his birthday against Jake Steele. Polaco returned to America soon after his training was complete and began working for New England based wrestling promotions.

In late 1994, World Wrestling Federation agent Pat Patterson hired Polaco. His Portuguese ethnicity inspired the WWF to give him first the character of Aldo Montoya, a professional soccer player, then that of the "Man O' War", a gimmick which required him to wear a mask that resembled a yellow jock strap over his head. Polaco befriended the Clique, an influential group of upper card wrestlers, after Scott Hall offered to mentor him. He had feuds with Jeff Jarrett and Ted DiBiase, but asked for his release in 1997 when he was only being booked twice a month. The WWF initially declined and sent him to a developmental promotion in Memphis to hone his skills, where he remained for seven weeks before being released on condition that he not work for World Championship Wrestling, who was then luring wrestlers away from the Federation with the promise of larger salaries.

Polaco left the Federation and joined Extreme Championship Wrestling, where booker Paul Heyman promised to make him a star. Polaco shaved his head and switched to a grunge style of dress, and adopted a cocky, sneering, egomaniacal attitude, renaming himself Justin Credible ("Just Incredible"). Jason Knight became his manager, along with Chastity and Nicole Bass.

He quickly ascended the ranks, eventually forming a tag team, the Impact Players, with his trainer, Lance Storm. The teaming was successful, as the Players won the ECW Tag Team Championships on August 26, 1999 and March 3, 2000. The team split when Storm left ECW to go to WCW, at which point Polaco formed the New Impact Players with Steve Corino.

Polaco ascended to the main event in 2000, winning the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on April 22, 2000 at Cyberslam. He held the title for over five months, and defeated Tommy Dreamer in a Stairway To Hell match at Heatwave. He finally lost the title to Jerry Lynn on October 1, 2000.

In 2001, with ECW facing imminent bankruptcy and Paul Heyman becoming unable to pay the roster, Polaco returned to the WWF. He immediately aligned himself with his offscreen friend, X-Pac, and assisted him in his pursuit of the Intercontinental Championship. The duo eventually formed a stable with Albert known as X-Factor. X-Pac and Polaco tried several times to win the Tag Team Championships, but were unsuccesful. The team split when Polaco aligned himself with Paul Heyman's band of ECW insurgents.

Polaco failed to achieve any real success in the WWF. Like many of the wrestlers from WCW or ECW, his character was poorly defined. Polaco switched his trademark denim shorts for nondescript long black tights, and his entrance music, previously the Prong song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", was replaced by a generic piece of instrumental music. He also lost his finisher, a devastating looking Spinning Piledriver, due to the in-ring limitations imposed on WWF employees and the fact that the move was similar to that used by WWF veteran The Undertaker. Polaco was released in January 2003 after a long period during which he mainly competed for the Hardcore Championship and wrestled on Sunday Night Heat. His last match on RAW was a squash match in which he was defeated by Batista.

Since being released, Polaco has wrestled for numerous independent promotions. He has appeared several times for Ring of Honor, where he is a member of the Carnage Crew. He also appeared with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, forming a stable with several other ex-ECW wrestlers and reviving his feud with Jerry Lynn. He was also briefly a member of the Major League Wrestling stable known as the Xtreme Horsemen with C.W. Anderson, Steve Corino and Simon Diamond, who were briefly managed by J.J. Dillon. In June 2005 Polaco made appearances on both the Hardcore Homecoming and ECW One Night Stand ECW reunion shows.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Peter Polaco ]

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