Abraham Washington

"All World" redirects here. For the LL Cool J greatest hits compilation album, see All World: Greatest Hits.
Abraham Washington

Washington in 2010
Birth name Brian Bary Jossie
Born (1977-07-04) July 4, 1977[1][2]
Texas[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) A.W.[3]
Abraham Obama Washington[4]
Abraham Saddam Washington[4]
Abraham Washington[1]
Brian Jossie[5]
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3]
Billed weight 220 lb (100 kg)[3]
Billed from Washington, D.C.[1]
Debut January 2008
Retired August 10, 2012

Brian Bary Jossie[2] (born July 4, 1977),[1][2] better known by his ring name Abraham Washington (abbreviated A.W.), is an American former professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. He is best known for his time in WWE.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

Developmental territory (2009–2012)

Jossie signed a WWE developmental contract, and began working in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).[2] In February 2009, he made his FCW debut working under real name, Brian Jossie with no real personality or character. However, he was soon repackaged with a presidential gimmick, and he had acted as the FCW General Manager, first under the name Abraham Saddam Washington,[4] before switching to the name Abraham Obama Washington.[4] In March 2010, Washington returned to FCW, with his show, The Abraham Washington Show, and also became an occasional color commentator. On the November 14, 2010, episode of FCW TV Jossie made his in–ring return, wrestling his first match in one and a half years and continued to compete regularly, with FCW.[6]

ECW (2009–2010)

Jossie made his ECW debut on June 30, 2009, using the ring name Abraham Washington, with an in-ring interview segment called The Abraham Washington Show. He interviewed The Bella Twins, causing a fight between the two after they argued over the questions.[7] He went on to interview the likes of Christian, Matt Hardy, Tommy Dreamer, Sheamus, Gregory Helms, John Morrison, Zack Ryder, Goldust, Trent Barreta, Caylen Croft, and Maria. Hall of Famer Tony Atlas acted as his sidekick[8] and announcer, with the segment taking place from the stage. After the ECW program was cancelled, Jossie became a free agent along with all the other ECW talents, though he never signed with Raw or SmackDown,[8] but returned exclusively to FCW, where he soon became a regular in-ring competitor.

A.W. Promotions and departure (2012)

Jossie returned to WWE television in April 2012. On the April 2 episode of Raw, he offered to manage Mark Henry and gave him a business card for his talent agency "All World Promotions".[9] He was also seen on the April 16 episode of Raw, scouting Primo and Epico from the stage.[10] On May 3, it was announced on WWE.com that A.W. had signed Primo & Epico, as well as their valet Rosa Mendes as his first clients.[11] However, a month later at No Way Out, Washington turned on his original clients and joined the team of Darren Young and Titus O'Neil. On August 10, 2012, Jossie was released from his WWE contract, 11 days after making a highly controversial on-air remark.[12] Jossie claimed his release was not due to this comment, but because he posted a tweet in support of Linda McMahon's senate campaign. According to Jossie, Linda wished to distance herself from WWE, and so wrestlers were not allowed to reference her.[13]

Kobe Bryant joke controversy

During the live broadcast of Monday Night Raw on July 30, 2012, Jossie made a joke referencing NBA player Kobe Bryant's sexual assault back in 2003. As client Titus O'Neil tangled with Kofi Kingston in a singles match, Jossie, who was wearing a headset microphone yelled from ringside, "Titus O'Neil is like Kobe Bryant at a hotel (room) in Colorado. He's unstoppable!". When Raw returned from commercial break following the match, the WWE apologized on-air through announcer Michael Cole and Jossie later issued an apology that evening via Twitter and noted that "there was no malicious intent behind the joke". After Raw, WWE issued an official apology via TMZ reading, "A.W. made an inappropriate comment and WWE immediately apologized. WWE has taken appropriate action in the matter". The representative, however, did not specify what "action" was taken against Jossie.[14] The incident would later be a subject for discussion on the August 1, 2012 broadcast of ESPN's Around the Horn with ESPN analyst and Miami Herald columnist Israel Gutierrez using his "facetime" (for winning the day's show) to criticize the WWE for the incident, despite Jossie's joke being an off-the-cuff moment.[15] Jossie was released by WWE on August 10.[12] After his release from WWE, he went on a rant on his WWE verified Twitter account, @AWPromotions, about his former employer. Eventually, WWE suspended his account indefinitely.[16]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Abraham Washington bio". Florida Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Profile". Online World of Wrestling. July 4, 2009. Archived from the original on June 22, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 "A.W. bio". WWE. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Martin, Adam (June 30, 2009). "Details on new names in ECW tonight". WrestleView. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Profile". CageMatch. July 4, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ Keller, Wade (December 15, 2010). "Free sample day: Step on in for a taste of the new PWTorch newsletter". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Florida Championship Wrestling, I mean ECW, TV report". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. June 30, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  8. 1 2 Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2012). WWE Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded. DK. ISBN 978-0-7566-9159-2.
  9. ↑ "AW offers Mark Henry". WWE. February 4, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Big Show and the Great Khali vs Primo and Epico". WWE. April 16, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  11. 1 2 "Primo, Epico & Rosa Mendes sign with A.W.'s "All World" talent agency". WWE. May 3, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  12. 1 2 Caldwell, James (August 10, 2012). "WWE News: Breaking - A.W. released Friday; TMZ covers A.W. claiming WWE "turned its back" on him". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  13. ↑ Caldwell, James (August 14, 2012). "WWE News: A.W. claims he was released due to Linda McMahon tweet; WWE disagrees and claims why A.W. was released". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  14. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 30, 2012). "WWE News: WWE issues apology for A.W.'s Kobe Bryant joke during Raw, says "appropriate action" has been taken". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ "WrestleZone.com". WrestleZone.com. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  16. ↑ "A.W.'s Twitter Account Suspended, The Miz & Former Diva Appear in Will Ferrell Movie". Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2011". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved July 3, 2015.

External links

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