Jimmy_Rave

Jimmy Rave

James Guffey (born December 8, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Jimmy Rave. He is currently employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Career

Trained by Murder One, Guffey debuted in October 1999 as the masked Mr. XTC. He later adopted the ring name Jimmy Rave. Rave wrestled for numerous professional wrestling promotions on the independent circuit, amongst them Combat Zone Wrestling, Full Impact Pro and NWA Wildside, toured Japan with the Dragon Gate promotion on two occasions, and made several appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Ring of Honor (2003–2007)

Rave debuted in Ring of Honor in 2003. He later became a member of The Embassy, a stable led by Prince Nana, and was nicknamed "The Crown Jewel of the Embassy".

Rave has gained notoriety for having received excessive heel heat from ROH fans. In ROH it was common for fans to throw streamers over the wrestlers they support. Jimmy Rave, however, had become a sort of cult recipient as nearly all the fans threw rolls of toilet paper at him. ROH announced on November 6, 2006, that the throwing of toilet paper had been banned from all ROH shows after Jimmy Rave tried to attack a fan who threw a roll at him after his match.

Rave developed a habit of stealing other wrestlers finishers and claiming them as his own. An example would be when he began to use the Rave Clash (a copy of Styles' own Styles Clash), and said he invented it and A.J. Styles stole it from him. After losing a match to Styles in ROH where the stipulation was the loser could no longer use the Rave/Styles Clash, Rave began to use the Greetings from Ghana as a finisher and would again claim that he had in fact invented that move too.

On January 14 2006 in Philadelphia, Rave and Alex Shelley of The Embassy attacked ROH World Heavyweight champion Bryan Danielson after a successful title defense. Rave used his title shot earned at the Tag Wars 2006, but came up short in his match with Danielson at the Fourth Anniversary Show.

In 2006, Rave had sporadically been tagging with Alex Shelley in search of the ROH Tag Team Titles, but after Shelley left the company in mid-year, Rave returned to singles action briefly. He found himself on the losing side of several encounters with Davey Richards. Soon Nana brought in a new tag partner, Sal Rinauro, and the two began working through the tag ranks.

In September 2006, Prince Nana announced his departure from Ring of Honor, ending The Embassy. Jimmy Rave would then go on a losing streak, until he scored a major upset by pinning Homicide.

On May 22 2007 it was announced that Rave had signed a contract with Ring of Honor. However, on August 2 2007 it was announced that Rave had left both Ring of Honor and Full Impact Pro.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007–Present)

In August 2007 it was announced that Rave had signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He returned to the promotion at No Surrender on September 9, 2007, where he appeared alongside Christy Hemme and Lance Hoyt (later known as Lance Rock). The trio was subsequently named the Rock 'n Rave Infection, with Hemme, Rock and Rave adopting the mannerisms of a rock band and carrying Guitar Hero game controllers to the ring. He than became a jobber to the X-Division, and the Tag Team division with Lance Rock, putting over such teams as Team 3D, LAX, Prince Justice Brotherhood, and the Motor City Machine Guns.