The Boogeyman (wrestler)

Martin Wright
File:-wwe-sd- Boogeyman.jpg
Born	October 31, 1964 Mystic, Connecticut
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Marty Wright The Boogeyman
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Billed weight	255 lb (116 kg)
Billed from	The Bottomless Pit
Trained by	OVW Staff
Debut	2004

Martin (Marty) Wright (born October 31, 1964 in Mystic, Connecticut) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his professional ringname The Boogeyman. he is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment on their SmackDown! brand.

Career

Born in Mystic, Connecticut, Wright began his career originally intended to be a professional bodybuilder. He won some competitions, the only recorded such victory noted online is the 2002 National Physique Committee States Contest]from August 2-3, 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the men's over 35 years, super heavyweight division.

Wright applied to take part in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Tough Enough IV and on October 15, 2004, attended a fifty man, two day event in Venice Beach, California, where eight finalists were chosen. Wright survived the first day of eliminations, but on the second day he admitted that he was 40 years old, 5 years past the contest's cutoff of 35. As a result he was cut from the Tough Enough prospectives.

Ohio Valley Wrestling

Though he'd been cut from Tough Enough, WWE officials invited him to come to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for possible training. When he arrived he promptly impressed his trainers with his in ring charisma and love of wrestling, despite the fact that he was just beginning his career at an age where most wrestlers are leaving the buisiness. He trained between January and June of 2005, making his OVW debut on June 25, 2005.

During a dark match pitting the team of Seth Skyfire and Robert Fury against Vik Delicious and Robbie Dawber, Wright entered the ring and squashed Fury, Delicious and Dawber, no-selling the offense of Skyfire in the process. He then announced that he was The Boogeyman before leaving the building.

It was announced on July 2 that Wright had a record of "psychological problems" and "bodily assault," and had been both rejected from Tough Enough and denied training at OVW (the first claim being true, the second kayfabe). The fact that Wright had lied in order to take part in Tough Enough was developed into a gimmick, with Wright being described as an unpredictable "sociopathical liar" - including (kayfabe) claims that he had recently served time in prison. Wright's ring entrance included special effects such as lightning and torrential rain.

In one controversial incident OVW lead booker Jim Cornette was released from WWE after repeatedly slapping Johnny Geo Basco, an OVW wrestling student who was inserted into the audience as a plant to further The Boogeyman gimmick, but laughed instead of showing fear when the time came. Cornette said that Basco had ruined the storyline and had broken kayfabe.

The Boogeyman gimmick further evolved into a "monster" face who would appear when another wrestler said his name and attack him, while no selling any offense he received.

WWE SmackDown!

On the July 11, 2005 episode of RAW vignettes in the style of horror movies began airing to promote the debut of Wright in his "Boogeyman" persona. The vignettes first aired on RAW, before being moved to SmackDown! for several weeks but his debut was delayed when he hyperextended both knees and needed time to heal.

The Boogeyman made his first appearance on SmackDown! on October 14, 2005, as a face with an odd gimmick; he was being (kayfabe) brought in by "Network Executive" Palmer Cannon, who claimed he was going to be on another unspecified network show that never came to be due to an on-set "accident" involving The Boogeyman (it was implied he'd done "something" to another member of the cast, but never elaborated on). Cannon said he brought him to SmackDown! as part of a "new talent initiative." Wright proceeded to recite a nursery rhyme and then smashed an oversized alarm clock over his head.

Over the next few weeks, The Boogeyman would appear in unexpected places backstage (in closets, vans, etcetera) on SmackDown! and continue reciting different nursery rhymes and holding up clocks before screaming his catchphrase "I'm The Boogeyman and I'm comin' to getcha!" and laughing maniacally. This would leave the performer(s) that had discovered him both confused and creeped out, usually ending with them backing out of the room slowly while the commentators remarked on how strange the whole situation was.

At Survivor Series 2005, The Boogeyman helped SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long defeat his RAW counterpart, Eric Bischoff, with a Pumphandle Slam. He made his official, televised, SmackDown! in-ring debut on the December 2 SmackDown!, defeating Simon Dean with the Boogeydriver in a squash that saw him repeatedly scream, "I'm the Boogeyman!" at a confused and terrified Dean. It was during this match that another regular part of his persona came to light when he took a handful of live worms from his pocket and stuffed them into his mouth as Michael Cole and Tazz screamed in disgust.

The next few weeks saw The Boogeyman go on a tear, winning numerous squash matches. Invariably, these matches were short on actual wrestling content, instead focusing on the "odd" antics of The Boogeyman. Opponents were generally flattened in the ring, left with worms in their mouths and spit on their faces. His official pay-per-view debut came at December's Armageddon when he came to the ring to confront Vito & Nunzio who were dressed as Santa Claus and an elf. Though Nunzio was able to escape, Vito suffered a Goodnight and ended up with worms shoved into his mouth.

Boogeyman's first major feud occurred with JBL and his "fixer" Jillian Hall, beginning with his stalking the duo throughout a number of shows. During an episode of SmackDown! he caught a fleeing Hall and shoved worms down the back of her skirt. In another, during a Piper's Pit segment, he not only sniffed the "mole" on Jillian's face, but licked it and bit it off. Layfield and The Boogeyman would eventually meet in a one on one contest at the 2006 Royal Rumble, with Boogeyman picking up the win in about two minutes time.

A subsequent feud with Booker T, which saw him again stalking a wrestler and his female companion (this time Booker's wife Sharmell) culminated at WrestleMania 22, when Boogeyman pinned Booker T after kissing Sharmell while holding a mouthful of worms. The match was exceptionally short because shortly before WrestleMania 22 Wright tore his left biceps at a warm-up house show. To explain his absence to rehap his injury, Booker T and Sharmell obtained a "restraining order" against the Boogeyman. He had surgery on April 4, 2006 to repair his biceps tear.

As SummerSlam approached, The Boogeyman began appearing again in TV spots for the event. Vignettes also began airing to advertising his return to SmackDown!, however, on September 20, 2006, WWE.com reported that Wright had been released from the company. It was later reported that he had been doing "the bare minimum" in regards to getting back into shape and had missed several doctor checkups. Although management warned him about this on a few occasions, he failed to change his behavior and they let him go. However, on October 6, WWE.com announced that Wright had been re-hired and would be sent to be trained at Booker T and Stevie Ray's wrestling school in Houston, Texas. [1]

Booker T has so far been very impressed with Marty's renewed dedication and enthusiasm at his Wrestling Academy, and has been termed as "Booker's Project". According to the Wrestling Observer, Wright was rehired due to Booker's insistence, and is due to train every Wednesday at the Academy. Wright returned on the October 27, 2006 "Halloween" edition of Smackdown scaring the Miz and Krystal. The Miz pushed Krystal in front of Wright for a chance to escape and Wright followed up by putting worms in his mouth and spitting them on Krystal while on top of her. Although he has returned, his profile has not yet been put back on WWE.com

Finishing and signature moves

• Boogeyman Bomb (Chokebomb)
• Goodnight slam (Pumphandle slam)
• Boogeyslam (Inverted falling slam)
• Two handed chokelift
• Single-handed chokeslam
• Powerslam
• Boogeyman catches the opponent's leg and hits a clothesline onto the opponent's chest
• Two handed choke toss

Acting

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Wright sought a career as an actor. He started with work as an extra and performing stuntman duties. He appeared in the movies Any Given Sunday (1999) as player #84 of the Miami Sharks known as "Beastman", in The Replacements (2000) as player #56, a defensive back of the Dallas team known as Butler, and in Transporter 2 (2005) as the SWAT commander.

Personal information

• According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wright's teeth were knocked out during a training match in 2005, however this is largely disputed.
• The worms he eats are real.
• SmackDown! announcer Michael Cole claimed in an interview that Wright eats worms backstage as well.[2]
• Wright is married to Mary Lubenheimer. They wed on June 11, 1984 and have 4 children.

External links

• Fan Site
• The Boogeyman at Obsessed With Wrestling
• OVW Profile