Hall of Famers

List of Past Inductees

Walter 'Killer' Kowalski

Tito Santana

Rick Martel

"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka

Public Enemy

Danny Davis

Larry Zbyszko

Samu Anoa'i

2011 Most Entertaining Personality Award

"The Flying Frenchman" GENE MACHAIN

Sean & Tim O Reilly The O` Reilly Brothers

"Real Deal" Joel Davis

"Fabulous" Johnny Vegas

Tony Santos Sr.

Tony Santos Jr.

"Superstar" Richard Byrnes

"The Lake Sisters" Ann and Ruth

John Callahan

Tony Roy

Irish Terry Gunn

TJ Richter

Dave Dwinell

Wrestling Historian Tom Burke

Georgiann Makropoulos

Ebony Blade

Pete Doherty

D.C. Drake

The Savoldi Family

Mr. Biggs

Kevin Hughes

Tony Ulysses

Billy Black

Dr. Heresy

Maverick Wild

Sonny Goodspeed

Bull Montana

'Mr. U.S.A.' Tony Atlas

Gino Martino

'Live Wire' Dave Padula

'Boston Bad Boy' Tony Rumble

Brickhouse Baker

'Sweet' Scott Ashworth

'East Coast Intensity' Jose Perez

Kevin Landry

Ox Baker

John Rambo

Justin Credible

Sheldon Goldberg

'Mr. T.A.' Terry Allen

'Slick' Willie Jackson

'Agent of the Stars' Bobby Riedel

'Maniacal' Mark Amaral

Travis Funk

'The Ripper' Rip Morrison

'Super Bad' Steve Bradley

'El Mascarado' Bert Centeno

'Nature Boy' Gary Gold

Cody Boyns 'Wrestling Talk Show Host'

'The Reverend' Dave Jackson

'Chief' Dave Fox

'Iceburg' Sonny Dee

'Heart Throb' Danny Cama

Kyle and Matt Storm

Bill Hardy

Paul Richard

Paul Richard began his career in 1981 at the Killer Kowalski Wrestling School in Salem, MA, at the age of 15 1/2, as a referee student. Then moved on to several independent promotions until 1987 when he began working with the World Wrestling Federation until 1991. He continued refereeing and in 1996 he joined the original ECW as a referee, later becoming the New England Promoter after getting ECW on New England TV, Channel 27 (the Spanish channel). After the demise of the original ECW Paul took 3 years off and later became involved with New England Championship Wrestling as a promoter, consultant and in August 2009 he was appointed General Manager of New England Championship Wrestling.

Gary Apollo

     Gary Apollo was trained by Walter "Killer" Kowalski and turned pro in February, 1984.  He wrestled for many independents. Apollo was a good tag team wrestler.

    Gary would challenged for the International Wrestling Federation tag team titles with Phil Apollo.

   He wrestled Harley Race, Larry Zbyszko, Butcher Vachon, David Sammartino, and Charlie Fullton.

   Apollo had an ongoing feud with Bob Vanwinkle and the Universal Soldier.

He did a TV dark match  for WWF (E) . His toughest matches were against Harley Race and Larry Zbyszko.

Derek Molhan

    Derek Molhan first trainer was Brad Rheingans in Hamel, MN. Molhan fell ill and returned to RI. Then finished his training with Paul Lauzon and Nick Steel.

    Derek’s first match was a battle royal for Coastal Pro Wrestling, then followed by a tag match. He was under a cowboy gimmick called Derek Duke, and his partner was The Beast. They teamed against Shane Simmons & Randy Blaze. Molhan was pinned by Shane Simmons. This took place Jan 15, 1994.

    Promotions Worked For: Power League Wrestling, Coastal Pro Wrestling, Showcase Pro Wrestling, Eastern Wrestling Alliance, Ringside Wrestling, AWA Wrestling out of NH for Bruiser Costa, South Coast Championship Wrestling, New England Pro Wrestling, Top Rope Promotions, Commonwealth Championship Wrestling.

Tommy Degnan

Tommy Degnan was the promoter of Power League Wrestling, a independent wrestling group that only holds events to benefit charities. Since 1994, PLW has helped over 50 groups and families.

Tommy has been a ring announcer since 1993. As well as announcing for PLW, announces currently for Eastern Wrestling Alliance, Showcase Pro Wrestling and Lethal Pro Wrestling. He has also announced for various New England promotions, including Top Rope Promotions, Ringside Wrestling (of New Hampshire), Premiere Wrestling Federation Northeast, Bob Evans' Renegade Wrestling, Northeast Championship Wrestling and Hardcore Wrestling Federation.

The Power Company Twins

    Dave and Dean started their wrestling career in Cheshire, Conn. in 1991 under the teacher Paul Roma. Paul had just won the WCW Tag Team Titles and would fly back into town whenever he could to run the school. Paul taught the Power Company the “art” of tag team wrestling. Paul was one of the greatest tag team champions they had ever learned under and were very grateful to have been a part of his school.

     They were then noticed by a WCW scout named Kevin Sullivan in 1995 and were flown down to Atlanta and did their first WCW TV taping against The Giant (Big Show) and Lex Luger. From there they did regular TV shows with WCW fighting every major tag team: Steiners, Harlem Heat, Public Enemy, Bushwackers, Nasty Boys, and others.

     They were also very fortunate to be around some of the great singles wrestlers like Tony Atlas, Jimmy Superfly Snuka, Bill Edde, Arn Anderson, Ox Baker, Brutus Beefcake, Jimmy Hart, and other that help them out tremendously over their career.

     They were also apart of other (and held the tag team traps in those promotions) great promotions like XWF, Wrestle Rock, New England Pro Wrestling, ACW, NCW, AWF, EFW, and FPW.

    They have meet a lot of great people along their many, many journeys and wish they could thank all of them personally for all their support and good times they shared.

Jim Kettner

    Jim Kettner along with a friend had a dream to become professional wrestlers. They founded the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) in New Castle, DE on August 27, 1967. Since that time over 700 performers have walked the aisle of the promotion and many have went on to become stars in top promotions such as WWE & TNA. The promotion was noted through the 1970’s and 1980’s for raising over $10,000 annually for local charities. In the 1990’s the promotion caught the eye of the wrestling world as it founded the Super 8 Tournament which became known internationally. Jim wrestled on all of his shows from 1967 until 1996. He has returned to the ring a total of 4 times since then. Jim also wrestled for independent promotions from 1979 to 1983 primarily in Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. He held the ECWA Tag Team Titles (for 6 month reigns) in 1983 and 1995.

    Jim’s biggest claim to fame was not so much as a pro wrestler, but for his ability to teach and mentor young stars. Kettner operated a wrestling school called “Wrestle Tech” from 1997 to 2001. Jim’s star students from the Wrestle Tech days were Charlie Haas, his late brother Russ and Simon Diamond. Jim has not only been a trainer but he has helped mentor many performers including: Charlie Haas, Simon Diamond, Low Ki, Christian, Billy Kidman, Test, Devon Storm, Ace Darling, Matt Striker and countless others. Jim, through invitations to perform in the prestigious Super 8 has helped wrestlers gain international exposure such as Christopher Daniels, American Dragon, Low Ki, Billy Kidman, Steve Bradley, Alex Arion, A.J. Styles, Scoot Andrews, Bobby Rhood, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelly, Davey Richards, Petey Williams, Brian Kendrick, Paul London Chase Del Monte, The Logan Brothers and others.

    Jim remains active as the owner and promoter of the ECWA which still runs successful wrestling shows in the Delaware area. Jim believes that everyone should follow their dreams. He did almost 42 years ago and those dreams have taken him virtually to every corner of the United States, but he claims there was no greater thrill than having the opportunity to stand in the center of the ring of Madison Square Garden.

He sold ECWA in Sept 2010 and retired from independent wrestling, but since then remains active by assisting in promoting WWE events when they are in the Maryland market.

Rich Palladino

    Rich Palladino made his debut as the ring announcer for the late, "Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble's Century Wrestling Alliance on October 23, 1993 at Wakefield High School in Wakefield, MA on a card that featured The Iron Sheik, Tony Atlas, Tommy Dreamer, Vic Steamboat and Taz. He also served as play-by-play announcer with Damian Demento on that same card. He worked for the CWA and then NWA New England (also promoted by Rumble) until shortly after Tony's passing in November of 1999.

     On February 3, 1996, Rich was invited to ring announce the Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl in Cherry Hill, NJ, a card held to honor the late "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert that featured such greats as Dory Funk, Jr., Jerry "The King" Lawler, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, Jim Cornette, Al Snow, Dan Severn, Tommy Gilbert (Eddie's father) and Doug Gilbert (Eddie's brother).

     Palladino worked as ring announcer for the original ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) from November 1996 through January 1999 for all of their New England events.  Rich had the opportunity to announce two World Tag Team title changes when The Dudley defeated The Eliminators on June 20, 1997 and when Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon defeated the FBI on Dec. 5, 1997.

     In his 15+ years, Rich has had the opportunity to work for several promotions including the aforementioned as well as NECW, WWA, IIW, Yankee Pro, MWF, EWA, NWW, Pro Wrestling World-1, Powerhouse Wrestling, PWF NE, UWF, PCW, WSW, UCW and many others.

Shane Simons

    Shane Simons made his pro debut on January 15, 1994 for Coastal Pro Wrestling in Taunton,MA. He was trained by “Lethal" Paul Lauzon and Nick Steel.

    Simons has wrestled for Coastal Pro Wrestling, New England Pro Wrestling, Ringside Wrestling, AWA(NH),Power League Wrestling, Massachusetts Championship Wrestling, Lou Bordeau's UCW, Anthony Rufo's UCW, IIW, Yankee Pro Wrestling, South Coast Championship Wrestling, Green Mountain Wrestling, Chaotic Wrestling, Showcase Pro Wrestling, Lethal Pro Wrestling and many others.

    Shane Simons held many titles. Some include; Power League Wrestling Tag Team Champion, Power League Wrestling New England Champion, Power League Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, South Coast Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champion, and others.

    Simons most memorable matches are his pro debut match, Power-Fest 2000 vs. Little Guido, Tagging w/Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart vs. The Damned(November 2001).

    His favorite opponents to wrestle against are Derek Molhan, Paul Lauzon, TJ Richter, Little Guido, and Gary Apollo.

Kenny Casanova

     Kenny Casanova began his early wrestling career in 1994 training with TC Reynolds, and learning on the scene from Tom Brandi and Bam Bam Bigelow.

    In 1996, Kenny Casanova found his first international television break ring-announcing for the WWF - World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment.

    On the pro-wrestling circuit, Kenny continued to manage and also wrestle under the guise of a loudly-dressed evil lounge singer against famous wrestling superstars all over the Northeast with notable extended alliances with Tom Brandi and King Kong Bundy!

    Kenny has been featured in many editions of Pro Wrestling Illustrated and other international wrestling magazines. Kenny Casanova continues to broadcast, ring announce, wrestle, & hype the audience in the squared-circle, as well as acts as a wedding DJ out of Upstate, NY.

Anthony Rufo

Anthony Rufo highlight match of his wrestling career was for Chaotic Wrestling and the King of Chaos Tournament Title Match in Worcester Ma. It was a 37 minute Four-way hard-core match, barbed wire took the place of the ring ropes, and four wrestler wrestled in a hardcore elimination style match the ring was filled with weapons, tables, chairs, glass bottles, barbed wire baseball bats, fluorescent bulbs, thumbtacks and a culminating with a huge fireball.

His first actual appearance was a Battle Royal for The New England Wrestling Alliance, at the Warwick VetsHigh school, in 1993. He made his pro wrestling debut was as Dambulla a 327lb witch Doctor. Then it was numerous matches. It got to a point where Rufo knew if he were really going to take this sport serious he would need to be trained properly.

From there Anthony took in some training at Killer's School in Malden Ma. Then moved on from there and traveled to and worked for various wrestling promotions throughout New Englandand the East Coast.

Lobsterman Jeff Costa

   Bruiser Costa AKA Lobsterman broke into wrestling as part of Killer Kowalski's Original Class in Salem MA. Then he started his career in Montreal as Tony Costa working for Montreal's International Wrestling.

   Costa became a famous in Canada as part of Vancouver NWA All Star Wrestling in 1981 where he held the NWA International Tag Team Titles on 2 occasions, the NWA Canadian Title and the areas version of the NWA Canadian Tag Title through 1988.

   His matches with DEAN HO are still considered Classics in the area as well as his many Interview segments on the nationally televised (In Canada) ALL STAR WRESTLING show. After the expansion of the WWF and the closing of most of the territories Costa returned to his home in Nashua, NH after almost a decade on the road.

   Costa opened Ringside Wrestling in NH and became THE LOBSTERMAN eventually getting National attention with his campaign running for President of the United States. The campaign caught the attention of National media outlets and led to appearances on THE DAILY SHOW, CNN, CSPAN and other local news stations in the Northeast.

   This attention elevated LOBSTERMAN to a new level of success and notoriety which in turn helped turn Ringside Wrestling become more active and more successful. With the advent of YOUTUBE and tape and DVD trading, matches and interviews of BRUISER COSTA from the 80's in Vancouver have surfaced and become very popular allowing Jeff “Bruiser" Costa another decade of popularity with Wrestling fans worldwide.

Jason "Wolfman" Sanderson

    Jason Sanderson began training with Jeff Costa in 1995 and debuted as "The Wolfman" in his first match against Dave Barron on January 11, 1996. He worked primarily in singles matches until 1997 when he was teamed with "Super Moondog" Peter Bashi to form "The Super Moondogs" challenging then W.I.W. Tag Team Champions, the Boston Bulldogs.

    In 1998 he began wrestling as "Merlyn" and teamed with Johnny Royal to defeat Maverick Wild and Brian Walsh for the vacant W.I.W. Tag Team Championship. Following the breakup of that team, he went on to capture the All-Star Wrestling (AWA) New England Heavyweight Championship; defeating Bruiser Costa in the final round of a tournament in Brattleboro, Vt.

    In 2004 he teamed with Capt. USA Dan Petty to claim the All-Star Wrestling (AWA) Tag Team Championship. He wrestled his final match in 2005 in a Six Man Tag Match, teaming with Capt. USA and Tony Atlas against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Ox Baker and Brian Black.

     Jason Sanderson has wrestled across New England as well as in Mexico, working for Ringside Wrestling, Green Mountain Wrestling, World Independent Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling Association and Championship Wrestling Promotions.

    His favorite opponents were Jeff Costa (aka "Lobsterman"), the Boston Bulldogs (Rip Morrison and Johnny Royal), Dave Barron and The Barbarian. Jason is a 2004 recipient of the Lou Thesz Heavyweight Championship Award from the International Wrestling Museum and Hall of Fame in Waterloo, IA; and is a life member of the Cauliflower Alley Club, serving on both the Board of Directors and the Executive Board.

Robbie Ellis

   Robbie Ellis works today primarily for NWA on Fire and New England Championship Wrestling in the United States and Innovative Hybrid Wrestling in Nova Scotia. He also wrestles when time allows for Chikara out of Philadelphia and Italian Championship Wrestling in northern Italy.

   He has been the lightweight or junior heavyweight champion of several of the best independent promotions throughout New England. Recently he was invited to wrestle at the opening night wrestling show of the Cauliflower Alley Club convention on April 13, 2009 in Las Vegas promoted under Gabriel Ramirez's Revolution Pro out of California. In his career, Robbie has wrestled such legends and current stars as Bob Orton, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Raven, and many others. He has also worked alongside such current superstars on the indie circuit as Mitch Ryder,

   Ellis is probably most proud of his experience with Chikara. It was voted one of the top ten promotions in the world for the year 2008 by the readers of The Wrestling Observer, a prestigious honor in pro wrestling. On the rare occasions Ellis has been able to work on a Chikara card since the first time – one in Framingham, Massachusetts this year and several in Pennsylvania – the houses have been full and wildly enthusiastic. Those few occasions produced receptions by fans that bordered on shocking but have given Ellis credibility in the pro wrestling world he says he had never enjoyed before: He says, “Trust me: my talent is not at their level. I've been accused of false modesty in this regard. Trust me again: it isn't false. Although the promoter of the show wouldn't know it, Chikara is in retrospect one of the reasons, perhaps the most important reason, that I was invited to participate in the 2009 wrestling show on April 13, 2009 open to the public held each year during the Cauliflower Alley Club convention for pro wrestlers and fans in Las Vegas.”

Paul Lauzon

    Paul Lauzon had always wanted to entertain people from the time he was a small child.

    Different forms of "show business" had run in his family, but he wasn't quite sure what form of entertainment would be best for him. Holding magic shows for his family from the age of 7, it wasn't a large enough audience to satisfy his hunger to entertain.

    Always being sports orientated, he began getting involved in martial arts, and in no time made a name for himself as being "very entertaining". As most people know, most martial artists don't have an audience so he began kickboxing to hear the roar of the crowd.

    16 years had gone by and his appetite for the admiration of spectators was really getting the best of him. As luck would have it, one day he drove by a place in New Bedford, Ma that said "Have you ever wanted to be a pro wrestler"? With a resounding YES! He called to meet the man. Soon after he started training with former WWF wrestler Silvano Souza. A lot of the training became natural and in three months was ready for his first match.

    Getting knocked out cold in that first match wasn't enough to kill his dream. It was on and up from their and a year later captured the New England tag team championship with "Brutal" Bob Evans.

    A 20 year career saw many miles, many titles and many great friends. Even working for the Savoldi's in IWCCW, an appearing on The Sports channel on Saturday mornings.

     Now many of the guys you can come out and see on independent shows in the area, have been trained and groomed by Paul Lauzon. Today he owns and operates Lethal Pro Wrestling out of Fall River.

Sandy Starr

    Sandy Starr started in 1972. She had been watching wrestling as far back as she could remember. It was on at midnight on Saturdays, filmed in a studio in Detroit with wrestlers such as Bobo Brazil, Lord Layton, The Sheik, Tex Mackenzie, and more. After attending a few matches, Sandy got to meet with the RI promoter who worked with Abe Ford, who ran the Boston Garden.

    Starr started working and learning the business from the bottom up, every aspect from setting up the ring, running the concession stand, making ring attire and accessories and advertising to promoting. All during this time she was training, four years in total. It was comprehensive yet sporadic due to the fact that Sandy was still in school, working full time in a factory and working at the shows. The training was universal, meaning she could work in many styles, collegiate, technical and hard-core along with Lucha and Japanese formats.

    She worked for an alphabet soup of organizations, so many had the same initials. The major ones were the Santos promotions, WWWF, ICCW (the Savoldi's), IWA (Johnny Powers, who now has an MMA league), and NWA. Some of her favorites have been Hardcore Joe's Wrestling Federation, Primal Conflict, Universal Wrestling Alliance, Empire Pro Wrestling, and Yankee Pro Wrestling.