Steve Lombardi

On the January 24th episode of WWF Superstars Paul Orndorff defeated Paul Roma; following the match Lombardi entered and tossed Roma from the ring.

This led to a house show series between Roma and Lombardi, and for both wrestlers it was their first real feud.

Despite coming out winless, Lombardi was now more than just a non-descript jobber.

He upset Sivi Afi on March 1 in Landover, MD, then gained another surprise victory over Tony Garea a month later.

On June 17 Lombardi participated in yet another debut, this time facing The Dingo Warrior (Ultimate Warrior) in Wichita Falls, TX.

A month later he began an on-again, off-again team with Barry Horowitz, losing to The Young Stallions on the July 26 episode of Wrestling Challenge.

Four weeks later, on August 21 in Detroit, the team defeated Sivi Afi and Scott Casey.

After gaining a pair of pinfall singles wins over the newly arrived Sam Houston, Lombardi then switched alliances to join Mike Sharpe.

The two proclaimed themselves as "the tag-team of the future" in an inset during a match with The Young Stallions in August, but were unsuccessful.

Entering the fall Lombardi continued to lose regularly but was now gaining a smattering of wins (Sivi Afi, David Sammartino, Jerry Allen, Tony Garea, and Outback Jack).

Still an enhancement talent, he was now beginning to climb the ladder.

On the June 29th episode of "All-American Wrestling" Lombardi teamed with Dave Barbie in a losing effort to The Killer Bees in their debut match.

Lombardi went on to face numerous wrestlers in their debuts during his long career.

Almost eleven months after his first ever victory, Lombardi gained another when he pinned Jack Armstrong on June 22 in Boston, MA. After numerous losses, a month later Lombardi garnered the first win streak of his career when he defeated Dan Rignati and George Sanders on successive house shows.

Steven Kenneth Lombardi (born April 18, 1961) is an American professional wrestler and road agent, better known by his ring name, the Brooklyn Brawler.

He is best known for his tenure in WWE, as well as several independent promotions.

Lombardi studied biochemistry at St. Francis College prior to his wrestling career.

Lombardi began his WWF career in late 1983, competing under his real name, and being a heel, primarily as an enhancement talent.

His debut came on July 15, 1983, in Queens, NY where he was defeated by Swede Hanson.

After facing Ivan Koloff and Sgt. Slaughter on house show matches, Lombardi made his TV debut on the October 29 episode of All American Wrestling where he was submitted by The Iron Sheik and carried out on a stretcher.

He then began regular appearances on both television and house shows.

After losing numerous matches that winter, Lombardi gained his first success on March 18, 1984, when he wrestled Jerry Valiant to a draw.

Another draw, this time with Terry Daniels came on April 24 in Mountaintop, PA. But apart from that he continued on as an enhancement talent, losing to much of the WWF roster including Big John Studd, Paul Orndorff, David Schultz, Iron Mike Sharpe, Rocky Johnson, and others.

In the midst of another long losing streak, Lombardi then gained a second draw against Daniels on June 1 in Winston-Salem, NC.

He made his Madison Square Garden debut on June 16, losing to Mad Dog Vachon in the latter's first match back in the WWF in a decade.

A month later on July 6 in Long Island, NY Lombardi gained his first pinfall victory when he upset Vachon in a return match.

On July 31 he became involved in a mild angle with WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan during the company's initial "Championship Wrestling" taping in Poughkeepsie, NY.

During a sub-minute loss to Kamala, Hogan came out to the ring to give encouragement to Lombardi.

Nothing further came from this angle, and Lombardi closed out his second year as a wrestler with numerous additional losses to wrestlers such as Buddy Rose and a young Bret Hart, as well as a defeat to manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

As the company continued to expand Lombardi remained a young enhancement talent, although this time he was switched to face other similar talent in house shows across the country.

He consistently put over various young wrestlers such as Paul Roma, David Sammartino, Barry O, Terry Gibbs, and George Wells.

On November 14 defeated Dennis Goulet, and then on December 5 in Long Island, NY pinned Paul Roma, thus finishing with five wins for 1985.

Lombardi remained a consistent presence on television and house shows, wrestling over 150 times.

The company continued to pair the young but now experienced Lombardi against other new wrestlers, and he faced newcomers such as Sivi Afi, Tony Parisi, Nick Kiniski, Dan Spivey, and Scott McGhee.

He gained his first ever tag-team win when he teamed with fellow enhancement talent Lanny Poffo to defeat SD Jones and George Skaaland on April 13 in Brisbane, Australia.

After dozens of defeats he gained his first pinfall victory of 1986 in singles action when he defeated Terry Gibbs in Pittsburgh, PA on August 9.

On the November 15 episode of WWF Superstars he participated in another debut, teaming with Moondog Spot in a loss to the newly arrived The Can-Am Connection.

Lombardi closed out 1986 with wins over Barry O, Jim Powers, Mark Young, Frankie Lane, and an upset of Tony Garea.

Despite a tick upwards in in-ring success, Lombardi began 1987 seemingly cemented as an entry-level wrestler without an angle.

But that was not to last long, as he began to establish an on-screen presence as a heel.