Wikipedia

Scotty Riggs

This article is about the American professional wrestler. For the NASCAR driver, see Scott Riggs. For the radio personality, see Scott Riggs (radio personality).

Scott Antol[1] (born March 1, 1967) is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Scotty Riggs and Riggs. Antol is also known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as Scotty Anton.[3]

Scotty Riggs
Birth nameScott Antol
Born (1967-03-01) March 1, 1967 (age 57)
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.[1][2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kendo the Samurai[3][1]
Riggs[3][1]
Scott Studd[3][1][4]
Scotty Anton[5]
Scotty Riggs[3][1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[3]
Billed weight251 lb (114 kg)[3]
Billed fromAtlanta, Georgia[5]
Trained byTed Allen
Debut1992[1]

Professional wrestling career

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Early years (1992–1995)

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Antol debuted on June 2, 1992 using the ring name Scott Studd after being trained by Ted "The Nightmare" Allen. Allen trained Studd by teaching while wrestling in front of live crowds. In the early 1990s, he worked for various independent promotions, including the North Georgia Wrestling Association (NGWA), Peach State Championship Wrestling (PSCW), Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA).

World Championship Wrestling (1995–1999)

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American Males (1995–1997)

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Main article: American Males

Antol signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling in 1995 and was renamed Scotty Riggs, with his last name taken from Mel Gibson's character, Martin Riggs, from the Lethal Weapon films. He was immediately placed in to a tag team with Marcus Alexander Bagwell and they became known as the American Males.[3] Together, they captured their first and only World Tag Team Championship, but only held it for eight days before losing it back to Harlem Heat, the team they won it from in the first place.[6][7] The team competed on a tour of Germany for WCW at this time.

The American Males broke up in November 1996 after Bagwell turned heel on Riggs and joined the New World Order.[8] Following the split, Riggs began competing as a singles competitor.[9][10] He immediately entered a feud with Bagwell, which resulted in a match at nWo Souled Out which he lost and a rematch at Uncensored in a strap match where Riggs was choked out by Bagwell with the strap while hanging from the ropes.

Raven's Flock and departure (1997–1999)

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After performing in the mid-card for most of 1997, Raven took an interest in him and during a No Disqualification match on the October 27 edition of Nitro, Raven caught Riggs in a drop toe-hold, sending him face-first into a steel chair and injuring his eye in the process.[11] Riggs then began wearing an eye patch and, to this day, claims that the eye injury was legitimate.[12] At first, Riggs resisted joining Raven's Flock,[13] but eventually joined after they kidnapped him following his loss to Raven at the World War 3 pay-per-view.[14][15] Raven explained that Riggs's "ocular disability" had alienated him from society and that he was seeking acceptance within The Flock. Riggs remained within The Flock until Saturn defeated Raven at Fall Brawl: War Games in a match that forced The Flock to disband.

Following The Flock's disbanding, Riggs remained a heel and adopted a narcissistic gimmick.[16] However, the gimmick was unsuccessful, and Riggs remained on the undercard before being released from WCW in 1999.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)

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In 2000, Antol debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as Scotty Anton, aligning with his real-life friend Rob Van Dam.[3] At Hardcore Heaven, Anton betrayed Van Dam, knocking him off the top rope to the floor, allowing Jerry Lynn to pin him and thus end Van Dam's two-year undefeated streak. From there, he joined The Network as a "hired gun". Van Dam gained revenge at Heat Wave, where he defeated Anton by using his new Van Terminator finisher.[5][17]

Independent circuit and retirement (2001–2003, 2007–2024)

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After leaving ECW, Antol returned to the independent circuit, where he found his greatest success in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (TCW). While competing for TCW, he became a three time Heavyweight Champion and a one time TCW Tag Team Champion with Erik Watts.[18] Following TCW's closure in 2003, Antol took time away from professional wrestling to deal with personal issues of divorce and his father developing lung cancer. His father died from the illness in 2004. Following this, Antol moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to work as a bouncer and manager at a lounge.[1]

Upon getting his life together, Antol resumed his wrestling career under his Scotty Riggs ring name, where he wrestled several matches for AWA World-1 Championship Wrestling in 2007[19] before retiring in 2009 due to injuries.

On March 3, 2024, Antol was shown in the crowd during Sting's retirement match at AEW's Revolution alongside Nikita Koloff.[20]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Scotty Riggs' Cagematch profile".
  2. ^ "MySpace profile".
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Scotty Riggs' OWOW profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  4. ^ "Wrestling Information Archive". Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c "Scotty Anton Bio". ECWWrestling.com (via Wayback Machine). Extreme Championship Wrestling. August 19, 2000. Archived from the original on August 19, 2000. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  6. ^ "WCW Monday Night Nitro results - September 18, 1995". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  7. ^ "WCW World Tag Team Championship history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  8. ^ "This Week In The WCW - 11/23/96 - 11/25/96". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  9. ^ "This Week In The WCW - 01/11/97 - 01/13/97". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  10. ^ "This Week In The WCW - 03/01/97 - 03/03/97". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  11. ^ "WCW Monday Nitro results - October 27, 1997". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  12. ^ "The Wrestling Podcast - Scotty Riggs interview". Pro Wrestling Blog (Podcast). September 23, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  13. ^ "WCW Monday Nitro results - November 17, 1997". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  14. ^ "WCW Monday Nitro results - November 24, 1997". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  15. ^ "World War III results". DDTDigest.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  16. ^ "WCW Thunder results - April 22, 1999". Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  17. ^ "ECW Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  18. ^ "List of TCW Championship histories". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  19. ^ "Cagematch match listings".
  20. ^ "Magnum TA, Nikita Koloff, DDP, Lex Luger, More Attend AEW Revolution For Sting's Final Match | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  21. ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  22. ^ "Awards".
  23. ^ "PWI Years 500". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  24. ^ "SMW Television Championship history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  25. ^ "TCW Heavyweight Championship history".
  26. ^ Hoops, Brian (September 15, 2015). "Pro wrestling history (9/15): nWo wins War Games, Hennig wins WCW US title". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  27. ^ "TCW Tag Team Championship history".
  28. ^ "WCW World Tag Team Championship history".
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