Sylvester Terkay

Sylvester Terkay
Born	December 4, 1970 Washington, Pennsylvania
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Sylvester Terkay Sly Scraper The Escapee The Predator The Man Bear
Billed height	6 ft 6 in (200 cm)
Billed weight	320 lb (145 kg)
Billed from	Big Bear Lake, California
Trained by	Ultimate Pro Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	2000

Sylvester Terkay (pronounced "Ter-KAI"; born December 4, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist best known for his run in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Early Career

While attending North Carolina State University, he finished second in the 1992 NCAA Division I Heavyweight tournament, losing to future Olympic gold medalist (and future fellow Pro Wrestling superstar) Kurt Angle by points, 2-1, and later became champion in 1993. According to Angle's autobiography It's True, It's True, Terkay had 78 pins during his college career. In 1993, his final college wrestling season, "The Bear" pinned every opponent in an average of just over a minute, including Don Whipp of Michigan State University.

After training under Rick Bassman's Ultimate Pro Wrestling school in California, Terkay was signed to a WWE developmental contract, but later released after spending time in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as Sly Scraper. He soon joined Japanese pro wrestling promotion ZERO-ONE in 2001 under the ring name The Predator, patterned after the legendary Bruiser Brody's character. During his time in ZERO-ONE, Terkay also fought in several Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) matches in K-1. He appeared in the movie/documentary "101 Reasons Not To Be A Pro Wrestler", where he talked about his views on the wrestling business.

World Wrestling Entertainment

After more training with WWE's OVW developmental territory, Terkay was brought up to the main roster of SmackDown! on July 28, 2006 working an MMA gimmick with Elijah Burke, who acts as his cornerman. Terkay defeated Matt Hardy in his debut match on SmackDown!, dominating the entire match. In the following weeks, Terkay would dominate jobbers as well as interfere with Burke's matches. On the October 20 edition of SmackDown!, Terkay would help sidekick Elijah Burke defeat Vito.

On the November 7 edition of WWE's ECW on Sci Fi, Terkay and his associate Elijah Burke debuted in ECW by doing a backstage promo. They then ended their undefeated streak when The Hardys defeated them on ECW on Sci Fi. At ECW's December To Dismember Terkay and Burke defeated The F.B.I. (Little Guido Maritato & Tony Mamaluke). He would accompany Burke to his matches in a bodyguard-type role for the next several weeks.

On January 18, 2007, Terkay was released from his WWE contract. He started to train back at Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) and said he plans to return to WWE.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves

As Sylvester Terkay

• Big Bear Lock (Overhead key lock)
• Muscle Buster
• Key lock
• Various belly to belly suplexes
• Arm triangle choke
• Seated armbar
• Roundhouse kick to the midsection

As The Predator

• Face Paver (Running knee drop)
• Diving knee drop
• Inverted sitout side powerslam
• Leg drop
• Muscle Buster
• Reverse chokeslam facebuster

• Managers

• Elijah Burke
• Kenny Bolin

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur Wrestling

• National Collegiate Athletic Association

• 1993 NCAA Champion

Professional Wrestling

• Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE

• ZERO-ONE United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• Ultimate Pro Wrestling

• UPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, first)

Trivia

• He holds the honor of being the first ever UPW Heavyweight Champion. He was crowned as the inaugural titleholder after winning a battle royal.
• He earned the honor of being named the #1 Gaijin (non-Japanese wrestler) in Japan. He also became a 2-Time NWA Zero-One U.S. Champion.
• Terkay made his MMA debut in grand fashion by knocking his opponent Mauricio da Silva out in just 13 seconds in a high profile fight as part of the annual K-1 New Year’s Eve spectacular, K-1 Dynamite. He then went on to earn impressive wins over Kristoff Midoux and Mu Bae Choi.
• Appeared in the 2001 movie Slammed along with former wrestling personality Zeus.
• Appeared on an episode of In the House as a Santa Imposter.
• Appeared on the game show Distraction and would bodyslam contestants while they tried to answer questions.
• Appeared, uncredited, in the 2006 movie Evil Bong as a nightclub bouncer.
• His only official loss in WWE was in a tag team match involving the Hardy Boyz.
• On a taping of SmackDown! he knocked out Todd Smith.

References

• Profile at onlineworldofwrestling.com
• Valorfighting.com profile
• gerweck.net profile
• Terkay Professional MMA record for Sylvester Terkay from Sherdog
• Cagematch.net profile

External links

• UPW Profile
• Terkay vs. Silva (K-1 Premium 2003 Dynamite!!)
• VALOR'S May 2005 Fighter of the Month! Interview
• Sylvester Terkay at IMDb
• Sylvester Terkay