Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

Charlie Haas

Charles Doyle "Charlie" Haas II (born on March 27, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its Raw brand.

Early career

Haas was a two-time Big East Champion at Seton Hall University, and, after graduation, he became a stockbroker with Goldman Sachs. However, he had always wanted to wrestle, and eventually began to work on the independent circuit.

Independent circuit

Haas regularly teamed with his brother Russ Haas for numerous independent promotions, most notably Jim Kettner's East Coast Wrestling Association, before WWE came calling. The two worked their way through the tag ranks in the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), as well as Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Russ died from a heart attack, due to a pre-existing heart condition, on December 15, 2001 at age 27. To honor the memory of his fallen brother, Charlie began using the name R.C. (Russ–Charlie) Haas before being called up to WWE roster.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2005)

Haas debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment on the December 26, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as a heel along with Shelton Benjamin as "Team Angle". The tag team was the "contingency plan" of Paul Heyman, and were intended to help WWE Champion Kurt Angle retain his title, attacking Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar in an attempt to soften them up. Angle eventually fired Team Angle after he turned face and they began to question his leadership. The duo then dubbed themselves "The World's Greatest Tag Team", although announcers made sure to add "Self Proclaimed" to the name. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship on two occasions before being separated when Benjamin was moved to Raw as part of the 2004 draft lottery.

Haas eventually turned face and with his valet Miss Jackie by his side, began to team with Rico to win the tag team titles once again. After Rico was released from his contract, Haas struck out on his own again, accompanied by Miss Jackie. Haas would come out the loser in a match against Luther Reigns at the Great American Bash.

Haas was later involved in an angle in which he was in a love triangle with Miss Jackie (acknowledged on air as his fiancée) and Dawn Marie. The story culminated when Haas served as the referee in a match at Armageddon 2004 between the two women. After the match, Haas left both women (for kayfabe purposes; his off-screen relationship with Miss Jackie continued). At the same time, he had formed a tag team with Hardcore Holly. They feuded with MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but never won the titles.

On July 8, 2005, Haas was released by World Wrestling Entertainment along with his wife, Jackie Gayda.

Jersey All Pro Wrestling

He returned to Jersey All Pro Wrestling that same month, and began a feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship with Jay Lethal. On September 10 at JAPW Haas of Pain, Lethal defeated Haas to retain his title.

He won the Natural Heavyweight Championship at Ballpark Brawl V on August 13, 2005, defeating then-champion Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin in a triple-threat match. He successfully defended the title the next night at Ballpark Brawl VI against Harry Smith with Mick Foley as a referee. He was stripped of this title when he returned to WWE, and has thus far been the only man to successfully defend the title.

During his time back in the independents, Haas competed in the 2006 ECWA Super 8 Tournament, going all the way to the finals before losing to Davey Richards.

In JAPW, on October 27, 2007, Haas was inducted along with his late brother Russ into the first class of the Jersey All Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Professional Championship Wrestling

In November 2005, Haas became the temporary head trainer for Professional Championship Wrestling in Arlington, alongside TNA superstar Lance Hoyt. Haas made his PCW debut in January defeating Lance Hoyt. He also wrestled more matches with PCW wrestlers Mike Foxx, Mace Malone, Eddie Atlas, and Stephen Murphy, just days before his return to WWE in April.

Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–Present)

Singles competition (2005-2006)

In late December 2005, Haas re-signed with WWE, returning to OVW on February 22, 2006. He returned to WWE television on the April 17, 2006, episode of Raw as Rob Van Dam's handpicked opponent for his former partner, Shelton Benjamin. Haas defeated Benjamin in the ensuing match. Haas continued to wrestle on the lower midcard spot, becoming a regular fixture on Heat.

On the June 5, 2006, edition of Raw, Haas inadvertently knocked Lilian Garcia off the ring apron as he was entering the ring. It was announced on WWE.com that as a result, Garcia suffered a sprained wrist. He received no heat over this as everyone understood it was a legitimate accident. The result was a feud with Garcia's onetime storyline love interest Viscera, and Haas's second heel run of his career in WWE. Haas made advances towards Garcia, at one point forcefully kissing her and then dropping her to the ground. Haas and Viscera continued to fight for Garcia's affection in the ring, until she stated to the both of them that she wanted to be "just friends". Haas gave Viscera an eye rake in anger, and a blinded Viscera accidentally gave Garcia a Samoan drop. Though it was unintentional, when both Haas and Viscera had seen what had happened to their now former love interest, they simply had a laugh about it. After that, Viscera and Haas became a tag team, usually found competing for the World Tag Team Championship or in random matches on Heat until splitting in December 2006.

Return of The World's Greatest Tag Team (2006-2007)

After Shelton Benjamin won a match against Super Crazy on the December 4, 2006, edition of Raw, Haas came out to celebrate his win with a bewildered Benjamin. Haas and Benjamin announced the return of The World's Greatest Tag Team on the December 11, 2006, edition of Raw, and they defeated The Highlanders in their return match. They then started a feud with Cryme Tyme. Since the reunion of the World's Greatest Tag Team, Haas began a new gimmick where he looked and acted "wiggerish". Examples of this include speaking in a manner imitative of Ebonics in promos, doing the Westside gang sign in his entrance (despite being from Oklahoma), wearing a Bloods bandana in at least one match, and at one point making his hair into cornrows. However, this minor gimmick was quickly discarded and Haas reverted back to his original look from his first run in WWE. Haas and Benjamin then competed regularly on Raw and Heat, sometimes in singles matches.

The World's Greatest Tag Team feuded briefly with the Hardy Boyz; at the One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 3, 2007, they challenged the Hardys for the World Tag Team Championship in a ladder match but came up short. The team broke up once again when Benjamin moved to the ECW brand on November 20, 2007.

Return to singles competition (2008-present)

Early in 2008, Haas developed a gimmick in which he would go under the ring in the middle of his matches and re-emerge wearing a mask. In this "alter-ego," Haas would sometimes perform luchador-esque maneuvers in a comical fashion (such as attempting a diving splash, but instead landing on his feet and hitting a standing splash). The opponent would often unmask Haas mid-match, returning him to his normal demeanor. By July 2008, this gimmick was abandoned.

Beginning in late August, Haas began a storyline in which he began to impersonate other wrestlers. His first match under this gimmick was a loss to Carlito's real-life brother Primo Colón, while Haas was parodying Carlito with the name "Charlito", thus beginning a gimmick of parodying the gimmicks of other wrestlers, much like Stevie Richards did in the the original ECW and like Big Show did at one point in his WWE career. On his blog, he is currently asking fans what superstar he should impersonate next.

In wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

Bridging German suplex
Cloverleaf catapult backbreaker – 2007
Haas of Pain – Innovated
Haastile Takeover (Scoop lift dropped into a reverse DDT) – 2006
Total Haastility (Olympic slam) – Independent circuit

Stiff kick to the back of a seated opponent

Managers

Entrance themes

Medal by Jim Johnston (Used while with Team Angle)
Pay The Price by Eric & The Hostiles
T.N.T. by AC/DC (Independent circuit)
Pay The Price (Remix) by Jim Johnston

Parody characters

Charlito (Parody of Carlito)
John Cenhaas (Parody of John Cena)
Charles Haas Layfield / CHL (Parody of John "Bradshaw" Layfield / JBL)
"Good Ol' J.H." Jim Haas (Parody of "Good Ol' J.R." Jim Ross)
Mr. (Im)Perfect (Parody of Mr. Perfect)
The Great Charli (Parody of The Great Khali)

Championships and accomplishments

Ballpark Brawl

Natural Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Combat Zone Wrestling

CZW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Russ Haas

East Coast Wrestling Association

ECWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Russ Haas

Heartland Wrestling Association

HWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Jersey All Pro Wrestling

JAPW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Russ Haas
JAPW Hall of Fame (2007)

Memphis Championship Wrestling

MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Russ Haas

Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling

PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Russ Haas

Phoenix Championship Wrestling

PCW Russ Haas Memorial Tag Team Tournament winner – with Nova in 2002

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Tag Team of the Year award – with Shelton Benjamin in 2003

World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Shelton Benjamin (2) and Rico (1)

Personal life

Haas was a former amateur wrestler who wrestled for Seton Hall University and was named a 2 time All American; he also has various other awards for wrestling from high school. His grandfather was a former assistant coach with the Houston Oilers. According to Haas via the Q&A section on his website, he is a devout Christian.

On June 10, 2005, Haas married fellow wrestler Jackie Gayda. It was announced on May 5, 2006 that they were expecting their first child. On December 14, 2006 at 3:01 a.m., Gayda gave birth to a daughter, Kayla Jacquelyn Haas, who weighed , and was long. The couple's second daughter, Taylor Suzanne, was born on September 17, 2008. Haas and his wife plan to open "Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop", a nutritional store in Frisco, Texas on October 1.

On August 30, 2007, an article on Sports Illustrated's website named Haas as one of ten superstars found to have purchased illegal steroids not in compliance with WWE's Talent Wellness program. He was allegedly prescribed anastrozole, somatropin, stanozolol, nandrolone, and chorionic gonadotropin between August 2006 and January 2007.