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Erick Stevens

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Erick Stevens
Birth nameEric Koenreich
Born(1982-03-12)March 12, 1982(age 42)[1]
Sarasota, Florida,U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Erick Stevens[1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight248 lb (112 kg)[3]
250 lb (113 kg)[2]
Billed fromSarasota, Florida[3]
Trained byRoderick Strong[1]
Debut2003
RetiredOctober 12, 2020

Eric Koenreich(born March 12, 1982)[1]is an Americanprofessional wrestler.He is known by hisring nameErick Stevensand for his time inRing of Honor.

Career[edit]

NWA Florida (2003–2004)[edit]

Stevens debuted in May 2003 after completing his training withRoderick Strong.He began working for the now defunct NWA Florida promotion and eventually won the 2005 Rage in the Cage, an annualcage matchbattle royalthat rewarded the winner with a heavyweight championship shot. Before Stevens could capitalize and challenge then champion Bruce Santee for the belt, however, the promotionfolded.Shortly after Stevens was involved in rivalries with both Sedrick Strong and Vordell Walker.

Full Impact Pro (2005–2009)[edit]

In 2005 Stevens debuted forFull Impact Proas Steve Madison's tag partner as The Miracle Violence Connection 2005/2006. After feuding with The Fast and The Furious (Jerrelle Clark and Jay Fury), the Miracle Violence Connection 2006 took onSal RinauroandColt Cabanain a series of matches that culminated in a loss during aCrystal RiverStreet Fightin May 2006. After losing the match, Madisonturnedon Stevens, giving him apiledriver.Stevens and Madison, along with his YRR stable, feuded for the better part of 2006 and capped their bitter rivalry off with aDog Collar Matchin Crystal River, where Stevens was victorious.

On March 10, 2007 during theEddie GrahamMemorial Battle for the Belts, Stevens defeatedShingo,Delirious,and Roderick Strong on his way to becoming the first FIP Florida Heritage Champion. Stevens claimed his entire purpose for winning and defending the belt was to bring back the prestige Florida had lost since its Golden Age. After becoming champion he defended it against the likes ofNigel McGuinness,Claudio Castagnoli,and Delirious. After months of successful defenses, Sal Rinauro became the new champion after hitting Stevens with his own belt.

At ROH'sFinal Battle 2007,Stevens defeatedRoderick Strongto win theFIP World Heavyweight Championship.Stevens would make successful defenses of the title in ROH against the likesAustin AriesandBryan Danielsonbefore losing it back to Strong at FIP'sRedefined.Stevens then came up short in a rematch for the title at "Dangerous Intentions 2008" on April 26, 2008, in a Last Man Standing match. Three months later, on July 19, Stevens regained the FIP World Heavyweight Championship from Strong in a Dog Collar match.

Stevens was defeated for the FIP World Heavyweight Championship byGo Shiozakiat FIP's Heatstroke 2008 on August 23, 2008.

On December 20, 2008, Stevens teamed with former rival Roderick Strong to defeatKenny Kingand Jason Blade of The YRR to win theFIP Tag Team Championship,making Stevens the first triple crown champion in FIP. On October 3, 2009, Strong turned on Stevens in a match where they lost the Tag Team Championship to Chris Gray andTommy Taylorof The British Lions.

Ring of Honor and retirement (2007–2010)[edit]

On March 31, 2007 Stevens made his debut for Ring of Honor (ROH) inDetroit,MichiganatAll Star Extravaganza III.[3]Shortly after this, he was contacted byAustin Ariesto join The Resilience. Doing so, Stevens aligned himself against Roderick Strong and hisNo Remorse Corps(NRC). The NRC and The Resilience were currently engulfed in a heated feud, until Aries disbanded The Resilience atGlory By Honor VI Night 2,which left Stevens' position in ROH uncertain. Stevens returned to Ring of Honor on November 30 in Dayton and December 1 in Chicago. Stevens made a giant impact in ROH as he defeatedRoderick Strongfor the FIP World Championship ending Roderick's 13-month reign. Stevens occasionally teamed withThe Briscoe Brothersagainst the NRC andThe Age of the Fall.

On June 6, 2008, Stevens defeated Necro Butcher and Brent Albright in a three-way dance. The following night, however, he lost the final match in his feud with Strong when Strong defeated him in aFight Without Honor.

On July 25, 2008, Stevens fought Go Shiozaki to a 15-minute time-limit draw. Shiozaki's manager,Larry Sweeney,refused to allow the match to continue for an additional five minutes, which resulted in a brawl between Stevens and Sweeney's faction, Sweet N' Sour Incorporated. On July 26, 2008, he won a Four Corners Survival Match after defeating Shane Hagadorn, Delirious and Ruckus when he pinned Delirious.

On November 6, 2009, Stevens turnedheeland joinedPrince Nana'sEmbassystable. ROH stopped using Stevens in the Fall of 2010 and he retired from professional wrestling soon after. He's now a strength coach who primarily works with women and owns his own powerlifting gym in Sarasota, FL.

Return to wrestling (2019–2020)[edit]

On May 19, 2019 Stevens returned to pro-wrestling having his comeback match for Beyond Wrestling in a losing effort against Chris Dickinson.[4]Stevens later began competing for smaller indies such as IPW.[5]On December 20, 2019 it was announced that Stevens would be debuting forMLWon January 11 at theirZero Hourevent.[6]Stevens was victorious in his debut match against Douglas James.[7]Later that night he joinedTom Lawlor'sTeam Filthystable and assisted in an attack on theVon Erichs.[8]On March 17, 2020 Erick Stevens announced on Twitter that he was once again retiring.[9]Stevens planned to retire from wrestling in April, but due to the COVID pandemic, he delayed his retirement to October 12, 2020.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Stevens operates a YouTube channel and Instagram account with his family, where he is known as the Family Food Dude.[11]As of September 2020, Stevens has 17,000 YouTube subscribers and 100,000 Instagram followers.[12]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghi"Erick Stevens".Online World of Wrestling.Retrieved2010-12-18.
  2. ^abcde"Erick Stevens".Full Impact Pro.Retrieved2010-12-18.
  3. ^abc"Erick Stevens".Ring of Honor.Archived fromthe originalon April 9, 2010.Retrieved2010-12-18.
  4. ^Greer, Jamie (2019-05-23)."Former ROH Star Erick Stevens Makes Comeback".Last Word on Pro Wrestling.Retrieved2019-12-22.
  5. ^"IPW HARDCORE BACK FOR MORE REPORT AND THOUGHTS | PWInsider.com".pwinsider.com.Retrieved2019-12-22.
  6. ^MLW.com (2019-12-20)."Erick Stevens looks to annihilate all in MLW; debuts Jan 11 in Dallas".MLW: Major League Wrestling®.Retrieved2019-12-22.
  7. ^One, The Standing."MLW Fusion #98 Results: Tom Lawlor vs. Ross Von Erich | GRUDGE MATCH".WWE Wrestling News World.Retrieved2020-02-29.
  8. ^Pollock, John (2020-02-23)."MLW FUSION REPORT: Erick Stevens joins Team Filthy".POST Wrestling | WWE NXT NJPW AEW UFC Podcasts, News & Reviews.Retrieved2020-02-29.
  9. ^Eric (2020-03-16)."Thank you. @drewcordeiro @JohnThorneAIW @BLPMikeypic.twitter.com/hS8wi5Nte0".@familyfooddude.Retrieved2020-03-17.
  10. ^"411Mania".
  11. ^"YouTube".YouTube.
  12. ^"Instagram".
  13. ^""PWI 500": 101–200 ".Pro Wrestling Illustrated.2010-07-31.Retrieved2010-07-31.

External links[edit]