Alex Wright

Alex Wright
Alex Wright
Born	May 17, 1975 (age 49); Nürnberg, Germany
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Berlyn; Alex Wright
Billed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Billed weight	[undue weight? – discuss]
Trained by	Steve Wright
Debut	1991

Alex Wright (born May 17, 1975 in Nürnberg, Germany) is a German former professional wrestler. The son of British wrestler Steve Wright (one of many early rivals of the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama), he wrestled professionally in Germany and Japan before signing with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. He became known for his distinctive pre-match dancing as well as his technical in-ring ability that would ultimately lead him to WCW championship gold.

World Championship Wrestling

Alex Wright defeated Jean-Paul Levesque (now more commonly known as Triple H) in a pay-per-view match at WCW's Starrcade 1994, Levesque's first pay-per-view match.

Dubbed "Das Wunderkind" (The Wonder Kid), he was initially a face for several years but then turned heel in 1997. He won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in 1997 from Chris Jericho, and the WCW Television Championship later that year. The storyline had Jericho refusing a win by countout after Wright botched a move from the top rope and crashed into the outside guardrail, rendering him unable to continue the match.

Wright paired with Disco Inferno in 1998 to form a moderately successful tag team called the Dancing Fools, which at times also featured Japanese wrestler Tokyo Magnum in the role of a tag-a-long who regularly attempted to imitate their dancing styles.

At the beginning of 1999, Wright was kept off WCW television for an extended length of time until May, when promotional spots began appearing on WCW television featuring Wright as a surprising new Rivet Head-style character named Berlyn, with a black Mohawk and goatee replacing his blond hair and movie-star looks. He was clad entirely in black with a long trench coat and arrogantly refused to speak English. The promos coincided with the aftermath of the Columbine school massacre, which threw a hitch in WCW's plans. Sensing the unintentional similarities in dress between Berlyn and the teenage killers, WCW delayed the debut of Berlyn for several months. Despite the shock value upon his debut, which occurred in September on Monday Nitro, Berlyn never really got over with fans. This was due in part to his debut match in which he was supposed to defeat Buff Bagwell, but Bagwell had refused to lose to Wright and even going as so far to miss a flight in order to avoid having to. Hacksaw Jim Duggan substituted for Bagwell, who then no-sold all of Wright's offense and threw him around like a ragdoll even though Wright picked up the win in the end. Although Berlyn went over Bagwell in the end, irreparable damage had already been done to the character. WCW would then push The Wall, the bodyguard Berlyn hired, leaving Wright to flounder in the midcard. After feuds with the likes of Buff Bagwell, Vampiro, Brad Armstrong and The Wall,The Berlyn angle was over and Wright disappeared again.

In 2000, Wright re-paired with Disco Inferno - now christened "Disqo" - to form the Boogie Knights. They won the WCW Tag Team Championship from Mark Jindrak and Sean O'Haire on November 16 in Germany. Disqo was sidelined with an injury, so General Rection (aka Hugh Morrus) subbed for him and they lost the titles to Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak on November 20. Disqo eventually returned from injury and the Boogie Knights gimmick lasted until WCW ceased operations in April 2001.

Wright fell out of the spotlight after the folding of WCW, and has not appeared on American television since then. In the years following Wright has stayed away from active competition, only wrestling on very few occasions in Germany. Despite this, Wright is still well-respected as a wrestler, as indicated by Ring of Honor fans chanting his gimmick name at ROH shows. Today he is working as a banker and fitness instructor in Nuremberg, in addition to opening a school called "The Wright Stuff" (Das Wright Material) in Germany.