Marty Jannetty

Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and has won a total of 20 championships.

Jannetty is widely known for his tenure as half of tag team The Rockers, in which he partnered with Shawn Michaels.

The duo originally found success during the mid-to-late 1980s under the moniker of The Midnight Rockers, becoming two-time AWA World Tag Team Champions and winning various regional titles.

They became one of the foremost teams of the WWF's "Golden Age", headlining multiple events.

Jannetty began his wrestling career in September 1983 for Mid-South Wrestling teaming with trainer Jerry Oates (as "cousin" Marty Oates), until November.

After leaving Mid-South, he would wrestle under his real name for Southeastern Championship Wrestling, where he would wrestle the likes of Super Olympia and Mr. Olympia.

Jannetty resumed his wrestling career in March 1984, wrestling for the National Wrestling Alliance affiliate Central States Wrestling.

He wrestled in singles and tag team competition with various partners, including Bulldog Bob Brown, Dave Peterson and Tommy Rogers (as The Uptown Boys) until joining forces with fellow rookie Shawn Michaels in late 1985.

The two teamed as The Midnight Rockers and quickly won the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship from The Batten Twins.

Jannetty wrestled Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship during his time in CSW.

In the summer of 1985, Jannetty wrestled his first Japanese tour for All Japan Pro Wrestling, where his biggest match there was a loss to Tiger Mask II on September 5.

In 1986, the duo left CSW for the American Wrestling Association.

In the AWA, Jannetty and Michaels quickly built a reputation as a talented tag team, performing many acrobatic moves in tandem and electrifying crowds with their athleticism.

The two won the World Tag Team Championship twice, first defeating Buddy Rose and Doug Somers and then The Midnight Express for their second and final reign.

They also won the Southern Tag Team Championship twice after defeating the Rock 'n' Roll RPMs on two separate occasions before jumping to the World Wrestling Federation in 1988.

Now called simply The Rockers, Jannetty and Michaels' popularity carried over from their stint in the AWA and the team was often called "tag team specialists" by commentator Gorilla Monsoon.

They made their WWF debut at a television taping on June 18, 1988, and they faced tag teams such as Demolition, The Hart Foundation, and the Brain Busters for the rest of 1989.

Duos including The Rockers routinely headlined house show events during this era of tag team wrestling.

Despite their previous success, The Rockers never officially won the Tag Team Championship during their three-year run together in the WWF.

The Rockers held the WWF World Tag Team Championship in late 1990, but their reign was voided.

On October 30, 1990, The Rockers were scheduled to win the titles from The Hart Foundation due to Jim Neidhart, one-half of the championship team, being in the process of negotiating his release from the company.

The match was taped with The Rockers fairly winning the belts, but soon after, Neidhart reportedly came to a stop-gap agreement with management and was rehired.

On the other hand, Michaels claimed in his book that the Hart Foundation lobbied backstage to keep the title.

The belts were returned to the Hart Foundation a week later, and despite The Rockers making a title defense against Power and Glory on November 3, the change was never broadcast or acknowledged on television.

During a tag team match at the USF Sun Dome in December 1990, Jannetty executed his Rocker Dropper finishing move on Chuck Austin, who was teaming with The Genius.

Austin's neck was instantly broken as a result of tucking his head during the move, rather than falling flat on the mat.

Austin was paralyzed and sued Jannetty, Michaels, and Titan Sports.

In a 1991 angle to begin the breakup of the team, Michaels was accidentally kicked in the face during a maneuver initiated by Jannetty on one of The Nasty Boys, which clipped Shawn in the face and resulted in an elimination at Survivor Series.

After splitting from Michaels in early 1992, Jannetty became a one-time WWF Intercontinental Champion and a one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion with the 1-2-3 Kid.

When the case finally came to court in early 1994, Austin was awarded $26.7 million.

Titan Sports appealed the decision and came to a $10 million settlement.

In the end, Jannetty was ordered to pay Austin $500,000.

He competed in multiple world championship matches between ECW and the WWF from 1995–1996, but Jannetty's star faded thereafter, and he was largely used as enhancement talent during a late 1990s run in WCW.

He made sporadic appearances for WWE during the latter half of the 2000s (including a brief 2005 reunion with Michaels), and has remained a challenger for titles on the independent circuit.

Although his career was continually halted by personal issues and his achievements overshadowed by those of Michaels, Jannetty was described by Talksport as being "as smooth and jaw-dropping as his partner, with a drop-kick to rival any".

Jannetty was an amateur wrestler in the state of Georgia, qualifying for the state championship tournament his last three years of high school.

He also boxed while in high school, and won many Golden Gloves events.

After high school, he wrestled at Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Alabama where he was a two time NJCAA qualifier.

He then went to Auburn University to wrestle, but the school dropped its wrestling program.

He thought about trying football, but was instead coaxed into professional wrestling by Jerry Oates, who trained him.