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Charlie Haas
Born	(1972-03-27) March 27, 1972 (age 52)[1] Edmond, Oklahoma[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Charlie Haas R.C. Haas
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Billed weight	[undue weight? – discuss][2]
Billed from	Dallas, Texas Edmond, Oklahoma
Trained by	Jim Kettner John Smith "Iron" Mike Sharpe Vince Sylva Jim Rogers
Debut	1996

Charles David Haas Jr.^{[citation needed]} (born on March 27, 1972),^[1] is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its RAW brand.^[3]

Early career

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). Tragically, 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".^[2] 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^[4] before being separated when Benjamin was moved to RAW as part of the 2004 WWE draft lottery.^[5]

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.^[4] 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 The Great American Bash 2004.^[6]

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.^[7] 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 6, 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, Charlie 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.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-present)

In late December 2005, Charlie 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.^[8] Haas continued to wrestle on the lower midcard spot, becoming a regular fixture on Heat.

On the June 5, 2006 edition of RAW, Charlie Haas inadvertently knocked Lilian García off the ring apron as he was entering the ring.^[9] It was announced on WWE.com that as a result, Lilian suffered a sprained wrist. He received no heat over this as everyone understood it was a legitimate accident. The result was a feud with Lilian's onetime storyline love interest Viscera^[10], and Haas's second heel run of his career in WWE. Haas made advances towards Lilian, at one point forcefully kissing her and then dropping her to the ground.^[11] Haas and Viscera continued to fight for Lilian's affection in the ring, until Lilian 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 Lilian a Samoan drop. Though it was unintentional, when both Charlie and Viscera had seen what had happened to their now former love interest, they simply had a laugh about it.^[12] After that, Viscera and Charlie became a tag team, usually found competing for the World Tag Team Championship or in random matches on Heat until splitting in December 2006.

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 has begun a new gimmick where he looks and acts "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 as recent as January 29, 2007, 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, albeit with blonde hair. Benjamin & Haas then competed regularly on RAW and Heat, sometimes in singles matches.

At the One Night Stand pay-per-view on June 3, 2007, the World's Greatest Tag Team challenged the Hardys (Matt and Jeff) for the World Tag Team Championship in a ladder match but came up short.

The World's Greatest Tag Team broke up once again when Shelton Benjamin moved to the ECW brand on November 20, 2007.

In wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

• Haas of Pain - Innovated
• Exploder suplex
• German suplex pin
• Cloverleaf catapult backbreaker - Mid-2007
• Haastile Takeover (Scoop lift dropped into a reverse DDT) - 2006
• Total Haastility (Olympic slam) - Independent circuit
• Double underhook suplex
• Northern Lights suplex
• Overhead belly to belly suplex
• Release German suplex
• Dropkick / Missile dropkick
• Inverted atomic drop
• Moonsault
• Multiple arm drags
• Stiff kick to the back of a seated opponent

Managers

• Jackie Gayda
• Kurt Angle
• Paul Heyman

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

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Shelton Benjamin (2) and Rico (1)^[4]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Tag Team of the Year award - with Shelton Benjamin in 2003

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. ^[13]

According to Charlie via the Q&A section on his website, he is a devout Christian. ^[14]

On June 10, 2005, Charlie Haas married wrestler Jackie Gayda. It was announced in May 5, 2006 on WWE.com that Jackie and her husband Charlie Haas were expecting their first child. On December 14, 2006 at 3:01 a.m., Jackie gave birth to a daughter, Kayla Jacquelyn Haas, who weighed 6 pounds 7-ounces, and was 19.5-inches long.

According to an August 30, 2007 article on Sports Illustrated's website, Charlie Haas was named one of ten superstars found to have purchased illegal steroids not in compliance with WWE's Talent Wellness program. He allegedly prescribed anastrozole, somatropin, stanozolol, nandrolone and chorionic gonadotropin between August 2006 and January 2007. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Brian Adams were also discovered to have been given steroids prior to their death during this investigation, as well as former superstar Sylvain Grenier.^[15][16]

References

External links

• The official website of Charlie Haas
• WWE Profile