Steve Corino

Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973 ) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT.

Corino began wrestling in 1994 and spent four years working on the independent circuit.

During this time, he was a part of the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, a promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy.

Corino began an anti-hardcore gimmick on the independent circuit, because he felt he would have more chance of getting work if he did not work hardcore matches.

He gained experience, working in Puerto Rico for the WWC, working under the ring name Lightning Kid (which had been a gimmick previously used by Sean Waltman) and also made some appearances for the WWF as a jobber.

He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1998 to 2001 and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2006 and 2009–2016.

Corino has held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, the MLW World Heavyweight Championship, and the 1PW World Heavyweight Championship once each, and the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship twice each.

In addition to these titles, he has also held the ROH World Tag Team Championship once, as well as numerous titles on the independent circuit.

In 1998, Corino debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a heel manager.

He stood out in ECW as a result of his "King of Old School" gimmick, where he would deride hardcore wrestlers, at one point invading a Limp Bizkit concert and protesting the immoral conduct.

In late 1999, Corino took Jack Victory on as a manager, and became an advisor for Tajiri and Rhino.

He then began feuding with Dusty Rhodes, who defeated him in a gory Bullrope match at Living Dangerously.

At Heat Wave 2000, he lost to Jerry Lynn.

Corino went on to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on November 5, 2000, at November to Remember by defeating Justin Credible, Sandman and Champion Jerry Lynn in a Double Jeopardy match; then to successfully defend it in December at Massacre on 34th Street (against Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible in a three way dance) and at Holiday Hell 2000 (against Justin Credible and The Sandman in a three way dance).

Due to repeated failures of ECW paying Corino his salary, he left the company on January 7, 2001, the night he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to The Sandman at Guilty as Charged 2001.

His friend Dustin Rhodes got him a contract in World Championship Wrestling, but he never got to make an appearance despite being due to debut at the company's third to last PPV Sin.

When World Wrestling Entertainment took over WCW in March 2001, they released Corino from his contract.

He went on to wrestle for many of the National Wrestling Alliance regional promotions.

On April 24, he won the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship.

Corino continued his feud with Rhodes in his Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion as well as Southern Championship Wrestling and was part of the Extreme Horsemen with C. W. Anderson and Barry Windham.

He was also part of the Extreme Horsemen in Major League Wrestling with C. W. Anderson, Justin Credible and Simon Diamond.

They were briefly managed by the legendary J. J. Dillon before MLW folded.

Also, Corino went on to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship before the promotion was folded.

The feud culminated in a match at the One Year Anniversary Show on February 8, 2003, in Queens, New York, New York.

Homicide was the hometown favorite, but lost to Corino following interference from The Group (Samoa Joe, Michael Shane, C. W. Anderson and Simply Luscious), Corino's entourage.

After the match, Corino applied a cobra clutch to Homicide, while the rest of The Group mocked New York City, instigating a worked riot.

Corino and Homicide had a rematch August 16, 2003, at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies which saw Corino defeated.

After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modified STF, prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LeGrande, to throw in the towel, awarding the match to Homicide.

In 2004 Corino made a number of appearances for Frontier Wrestling Alliance in the United Kingdom, where he entered a short rivalry with Alex Shane.

The feud culminated in the main event match of Hotwired, where Corino defeated Shane with the assistance of then FWA Heavyweight Champion, Doug Williams.

As Steve Corino was a major part of ECW towards the end of its run, rumors swirled surrounding Corino possibly signing with World Wrestling Entertainment and returning to his ECW roots as a part of the new version of ECW, but he squashed those rumors in a posting on his LiveJournal.

Instead of signing with WWE, Corino worked in various independent promotions, including Zero-One, Hustle in Japan, Ring of Honor in the United States and both One Pro Wrestling and Celtic Wrestling in the United Kingdom.

He was also president of World-1 Fighting Arts, which runs shows in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

Corino also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during its early days.

Corino had matches with Low Ki and many other stars before leaving the promotion some time later.

Steve Corino appeared in the inaugural event “The Era of Honor Begins” on color commentary.

Responding to a challenge from The Backseat Boyz, Homicide invited anyone in the locker room to be his partner.

Steve Corino made his ROH debut and responded to his offer, resulting in the two facing the Backseat Boys later that night.

In the course of the match, Corino turned on Homicide after Homicide accidentally hit him, Old School Kicking his partner and leaving the ring, enabling the Backseat Boyz to easily defeat Homicide.

Homicide and Corino would then begin a four-year rivalry, with Corino criticizing Homicide's lifestyle and somewhat checkered past.