Photo Credit: WWE Gallery
Philly is Pennsylvania’s biggest city, with over one and a half million people residing there, making it one of the biggest cities in the United States. It is home to talented individuals who thrive in different sectors, including professional wrestling.
Professional wrestling has had a significant cultural influence in Philadelphia because the city has been home to different promotions. During the 90s, ECW, the defunct company managed by Paul Heyman, was headquartered in Philly. Moreover, Combat Zone Wrestling, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Dangerous Women of Wrestling, etc are some notable Philadelphia-based wrestling promotions.
Likewise, the city has been a key location for WWE. The promotion frequently hosts RAW, SmackDown, Live shows, and PLEs there. Due to the significant influence of professional wrestling, the biggest city in Pennsylvania produced prominent wrestling figures who excelled in the industry. Through this piece, we learn about some popular WWE wrestlers from Philadelphia.
5) Francine
Francine gained prominence in Paul Heyman’s Philadelphia-based promotion, ECW, spending seven years until it collapsed in 2001. As a valet, she was the promotion’s foremost manager, managing the likes of Stevie Richards, Tommy Dreamer, Shane Douglas, and the tag team ‘The Pitbulls.’
Upon leaving ECW, Francine performed in TNA and indies before landing in WWE in 2005, when the company restored ECW as its third brand. Given she was an ECW, adding her to the roster was justified, though it lasted for a brief period.
Francine is a Philadelphia native. The 52-year-old went to a school in West Philadelphia. Growing up, she became a fan of the wrestling business, which opened up a gate to begin a career in ECW.
4) Blue Meanie
Similar to Francine, The Blue Meanie became an icon of ECW in the 1990s. He was known for becoming part of bWo or Blue World Order, which was a satirical version of nWo, WCW’s leading group led by Hollywood Hulk Hogan. As part of bWo, he portrayed the comedic adaptation of Scott Hall from the legendary stable.
Seeing his brilliant comedy skits, WWE signed The Blue Meanie in 1998 at the peak of the Attitude Era. Here, as well, he mocked a wrestler. Imitating Goldust, he called himself Bluedust. In his second WWE tenure in 2005, he brought back The Blue Meanie gimmick in the company’s ECW brand.
The Blue Meanie, whose birth name is Brian Heffron, is a Philadelphia-born professional wrestler. Once he got into the pro-wrestling business, he wrestled in the mid-west part of the country before getting noticed by ECW. He is still an active wrestler, and his last major on-off appearance was for AEW in 2021.
3) John Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis was a central backstage figure in WWE for two decades and was once considered the right-hand man of the former Chairman, Vince McMahon. Except for a handful of occasions in 2011 and 2012, he never got physical in the squared circle. However, before WWE, he had a prosperous career as a pro wrestler in other promotions.
In the early days of his WWE stint, John Laurinaitis served as the director and president of talent relations. After a promotion to an on-screen role, he became a close associate of Vince McMahon as a heel, indulging in a feud with then-WWE Champion CM Punk. After his name came up in Vince McMahon’s recent allegation charge by Janel Grant, he was released by the company.
In his wrestling days, he was said to be the original inventory of the famous maneuver RKO aka Cutter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2) Raven
Raven is ranked the most well-known figure from ECW. A savvy talker, Raven’s promos were filled with excitement and drama, showing his shrewdness as a heel. Capitalizing on the success of the Raven gimmick in ECW, he later brought it to WWE and WCW.
The two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion’s solo WWE run took place from 2000 to 2003. During his heyday, amid a star-studded WWE roster of the Attitude Era, he didn’t reach the status of a main eventer. Nevertheless, Raven became an integral mid-card star, capturing the Hardcore Championship multiple times.
Raised in Pennsylvania’s biggest city, Raven, aka Scott Levy, is one of the most recognized WWE Wrestlers from Philadelphia today. While he grew up there, he finished school in Florida before securing a college degree from Delaware.
1) Road Warrior Animal
The Road Warriors, or Legion Of Doom, was arguably the most popular tag team in the old-school, old school of Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior Hawk. They prevailed in the tag team division of professional wrestling in the 1980s and the early 1990s, competing for WCW and WWE.
With red and black colors on their faces, they popularized the concept of face paint in wrestling. Their tenures in WWE included the early and the late 1990s.
Road Warrior Animal, whose real name is Joseph Laurinaitis, is a sibling of John Laurinaitis. Hence, he is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, making him the city’s most celebrated wrestling alumni.
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Avik Das is an English Literature graduate with an experience of over six years as a professional writer. He has written for renowned publications such as The Sportster, Sportskeeda, Pinkvilla, and The Things
