Mark Jindrak

Mark Jindrak

Jindrak, as Marco Corleone, in September 2006.
Birth name Mark Robert Jindrak
Born (1977-06-26) June 26, 1977
Auburn, New York[1]
Residence Mexico City, Mexico[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Mark Jindrak[3]
Marco Corleone[3]
Billed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1]
Billed weight 265 lb (120 kg)[4]
Billed from Atlanta, Georgia[4]
Trained by Paul Orndorff[5]
Debut 1999[5]

Mark Robert Jindrak (born June 26, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under his real name. He is currently signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he competes under the ring name Marco Corleone. In addition to CMLL, he has also competed for its rival promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), making his AAA debut in March 2009 before he returned to CMLL in December 2011. He has also worked for Mexican promotions Perros del Mal and Lucha Libre USA.

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)

Jindrak trained in the WCW Power Plant under Paul Orndorff.[5] He was promoted to the main WCW roster in June 2000 under the Vince Russo era where he formed a tag team with fellow Power Plant graduate Sean O'Haire. In August 2000, Jindrak and O'Haire helped form The Natural Born Thrillers with Mike Sanders, Shawn Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, and Reno.[5] They were briefly "coached" by Kevin Nash.[5] In September 2000, Jindrak won the World Tag Team Championship with O'Haire for the first time, despite being relatively new in the business. The pair would win the World Tag Team Title one more time before splitting in early January 2001 when Jindrak would begin teaming with Stasiak instead. The team was short-lived, as Stasiak went on to pick up the managerial service of Stacy Keibler and Jindrak was taken off television.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2001–2005)

After the World Wrestling Federation purchased WCW in March 2001, Jindrak came into the company in July 2001 as part of The Alliance that invaded the WWF roster. Jindrak wrestled in dark matches and at house shows throughout July. His first televised debut was on the July 28, 2001 episode of Jakked, defeating Jerry Lynn. In late August of that year Mark Jindrak was sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association. There he was a member of Team WCW along with Mike Sanders, Johnny The Bull, Reno, Jason Jett, Lash LeRoux, Shannon Moore, Evan Karagias, Kwee Wee, Elix Skipper and Jamie Knoble. In October 2001 Jindrak was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for training until March 2002 when he suffered a knee injury. Jindrak returned to OVW in July 2002. He also returned to WWE on the October 13, 2002 episode Sunday Night Heat defeating Justin Credible. He made a few more appearances on Heat in late 2002, defeating wrestlers such as Credible, Raven, and Stevie Richards until suffering an ankle injury. Jindrak returned to OVW in March 2003 following his recovery, and joined Kenny Bolin's "Bolin Services" stable and teamed with Garrison Cade while in OVW.

Jindrak at a WWE house show in January 2005.

Jindrak was soon called up by WWE. Triple H would reveal on his 2013 Triple H - Thy Kingdom Come DVD that Jindrak was originally planned to be in the stable, Evolution, along with himself, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton. Backing this up were vignettes that Jindrak shot with the rest of Evolution. However, for undisclosed reasons, his spot as the Arn Anderson-like enforcer of the group ended up going to Batista instead.[6] After being pulled out of the Evolution angle, Jindrak made his Raw debut on July 7, 2003 as a face where he was defeated by Chris Jericho. He then began to tag team with Garrison Cade on the Raw brand. The two feuded with teams such as La Résistance, Evolution, and The Dudley Boyz. The team soon separated when Jindrak was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on March 22, 2004. He first appeared on SmackDown!'s secondary show Velocity, where he turned heel and adopted an egotistical, narcissistic gimmick obsessed with his own physique while calling himself "The Reflection of Perfection". On April 8, 2004, Jindrak gained Theodore Long's managerial services for a brief period until the pair split in July when Long turned face and became the general manager of SmackDown! while Jindrak remained on Velocity. In September, Jindrak aligned himself with Kurt Angle and Luther Reigns, to help Angle take down and shave Big Show bald during the fifth anniversary episode of SmackDown!. Jindrak was in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, entering at number 22, but was eliminated by Kane. Jindrak and Reigns continued to serve as Kurt Angle's proteges/bodyguards until February, 2005 when they split from Angle to continue their own feud with The Undertaker. Jindrak continued to team with Reigns until early March 2005. The pair began to have a falling out, most notably after Jindrak submitted to a triangle choke, losing a "Double Jeopardy" handicap match on the February 24, 2005 episode of SmackDown! in Philadelphia to The Undertaker. The following week Jindrak and Reigns lost a match for the WWE tag team titles against Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Jindrak would turn face again, after getting into a fight with Reigns and knocking him out with a left hook. The next week on SmackDown! on March 10, Jindrak defeated Reigns. After this, Jindrak became a lower card star performing on Velocity, and only appearing on SmackDown! to job for other wrestlers, portraying both a face and heel character. On the May 28, 2005 episode of Velocity Jindrak faced Orlando Jordan for the United States Championship, however, Jindrak lost after Jordan hit him with a blackout. Jindrak's last match as a SmackDown! superstar was on the June 18th episode of Velocity in a losing effort to Rene Dupree, even though he had a good showing in most of the match. On June 30, 2005, Jindrak became one of the last minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft, returning him back to the RAW brand. Jindrak only had one match with the RAW brand, where René Duprée forced him to submit to a cobra clutch. Jindrak was then released from his contract shortly thereafter on July 5, 2005.

Japan and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2006–2009)

Following his departure from WWE, Jindrak toured New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2006, where he was primarily used as a low-carder. He did, however, pick up a surprise win over long-time veteran Osamu Nishimura during the tour. Soon after, Jindrak began working with fellow WWE alumnus Matt Morgan in the Japanese promotion HUSTLE as part of the tag team of Sodom (Jindrak) and Gomorrah (Morgan).

In late 2006, Jindrak began working for the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre under the name Marco Corleone. He took the name "Corleone" from the film The Godfather.[2] His gimmick has Italian traits, as a result of joining the promotion with Johnny Stamboli, who was using an Italian gimmick at the time.[2] Initially a rudo (heel), he turned into a technico (face) due to crowd support.[2] It was announced in 2008 that Jindrak has been officially banned from performing at wrestling shows in Tijuana, Mexico for a year due to pulling down the tights of his opponent during a match.[7]

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2009–2010)

On March 15, 2009, Jindrak, under his Marco Corleone ring name, made a surprise jump from CMLL to AAA, appearing as a surprise corner man for Vampiro during AAA's 2009 Rey de Reyes show. Corleone helped Vampiro win the match against AAA's top heel Konnan.[8] On June 13, 2009 at Triplemanía XVII Corleone teamed with Latin Lover against La Hermandad 187 (Nicho El Millonario and Joe Lider) in a match for the AAA World Tag Team Championships but were unsuccessful. On March 22, 2010, AAA released Jindrak.[9] Corleone later stated that he had initially only signed a one-year contract with AAA and had declined to re-sign.[10] On April 11, 2010, Mexican promotion Perros del Mal announced that they had signed Jindrak, still using the ring name Marco Corleone, to a contract.[11]

Lucha Libre USA (2010–2011)

Corleone competed on MTV's lucha libre show, Lucha Libre USA. He became involved with the promotion shortly after leaving AAA in early 2010, and was involved in finding and signing wrestlers for the show.[10][12] On December 12, 2010 Corleone, Charly Malice and RJ Brewer were defeated in a four–way elimination match by Lizmark, Jr. to become the inaugural LLUSA Heavyweight Champion, This episode aired on tape delay on October 1, 2011.[13]

Return to CMLL (2011–present)

On December 10, 2011, CMLL announced that Corleone would return to the promotion on December 16 at CMLL's Sin Piedad show.[14] In his return match, Corleone, Máximo and Rush defeated Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas and Rey Bucanero in two straight falls.[15] After the event, the trio of Corleone, Rush and Máximo was given the name La Tercia Sensación,[16] which was later changed to El Bufete del Amor.[17] On February 19, 2012, El Bufete del Amor defeated Los Hijos del Averno (Averno, Ephesto and Mephisto) to win the CMLL World Trios Championship.[18] On August 24, 2012, Corleone was defeated by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the Quarterfinal round of the CMLL Universal Championship Tournament. In the fall of 2012 El Bufete began a feud against the Mexican National Trios Champions Los Invasores (Volador, Jr., Mr. Águila and Kraneo). The two teams fought several occasions with El Bufete's CMLL World Trios Chamipnship on the line, while Los Invasores Mexican National Trios Championship being passed over compared to the more prestigious CMLL title.[19] Corleone was forced to team up with Kraneo for the 2013 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament"), a tag team tournament teaming up wrestlers who would never team up otherwise, often because they are rivals, would be forced to work together. The team lost to Shocker and Mr. Niebla in the opening round due to their inability to get along even for one match.[20][21] In May, Corleone was sidelined with a knee injury, leading to CMLL stripping him, Máximo and Rush of the CMLL World Trios Championship.[22]

On August 2, 2013, Corleone returned from injury teaming with La Sombra and Rush defeating Averno, Mephisto and Volador Jr. in a two out of three falls match.[23] On September 16, 2014, Corleone and Rush defeated El Terrible and Rey Escorpión to win La Copa CMLL.[24] On December 7, Corleone was knocked unconscious during a match with El Terrible, after being hit on the back of the head by a ring rope. He regained consciousness shortly thereafter and was reportedly doing well.[25] On March 17, 2015, Los Ingobernables (Corleone and Rush) unsuccessfully challenged Negro Casas and Shocker in a two out of three falls match for the CMLL World Tag Team Championships.[26]

Other media

Due to his success in Mexican promotions, Jindrak has appeared on several Mexican game shows, soap operas, and TV shows, and been featured on the covers of magazines.[2] He was also named "Best Body in Mexico".[2] He also wrote a book in Spanish entitled Marco Corleone: las primera luchas de mi vida (Marco Corleone: the first fights of my life) for children, to help them cope with bullying in schools.[2] Jindrak tried out for the film Remember the Titans, and was offered a role as a football player. As he was in training at the WCW Power Plant at the time however, he turned the role down.[27]

In 2012, Jindrak starred in the Mexican Telenovela Porque el amor manda as Ury Petrovsky.[28]

Filmography

Year Television Role Notes
2005 MTV's The 70s House Himself Season 1, Episode 3
2012–2013 Porque el amor manda Ury Petrovsky
2014–2015 Mi corazón es tuyo Mike

Personal life

Jindrak has a degree in marketing.[1] He also played basketball for the Keuka College's Storm in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.[5] Jindrak has the highest vertical leap in WWE history, and his personal best is over 40 inches (100 cm).[27]

Jindrak resides in Mexico with his wife and son.[2] His father is of German descent and his mother is of Italian descent.[2] On November 3, 2015, Jindrak announced that he married Mexican fashion designer and model Miroslava Luna.[29]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Shocker and Universo 2000 (hair) Marco Corelone and Kenzo Suzuki (hair) Mexico City, Mexico Sin Piedad (2006) December 15, 2006 [52]
Marco Corleone (hair) Universo 2000 (hair) Mexico City, Mexico Homenaje a Dos Leyendas (2007) March 30, 2007  
Marco Corleone (hair) Lizmark, Jr. (hair) Mexico City, Mexico CMLL Live event October 17, 2008  

References

  1. 1 2 3 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-14). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  3. 1 2 3 "OWOW profile".
  4. 1 2 "PWI Official Ratings". Pro Wrestling Illustrated (London Publishing). February 2009. p. 145. Vol 30, Nr. 2 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  6. ↑ http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2013/0928/565928/who-was-supposed-to-take-batista-spot-in-evolution/
  7. ↑ Wrestling News Center: Mark Jindrak Banned From Tijuana For Pulling The Tights
  8. ↑ "Resultados de Rey de Reyes-AAA (16 marzo 2008) Elecktroshock nuevo Rey de Reyes. Juventud Guerrera y Marco Corleone las sorpresas. Wagner se presenta en AAA para retar al Mesías." (in Spanish). SuperLucha.net. 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  9. ↑ "Marco Corleone liberado" (in Spanish). Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  10. 1 2 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-14). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  11. ↑ "Latin Lover será un Perro del Mal" (in Spanish). Record.com.mx. 2010-04-11. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  12. ↑ Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-14). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  13. ↑ Roberts, Alex (December 13, 2010). "12/12 Lucha Libre USA TV taping: Spoiler results for season premiere of MTV2 wrestling show - former TNA wrestler debuts, first Hvt. champion crowned". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  14. 1 2 Mexicool, Rey (2011-12-10). "Cartel completo de Sin Piedad – Se presenta Marco Corleone en el CMLL" (in Spanish). SuperLuchas Magazine. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  15. ↑ Huerta, Diego (2011-12-18). "Marco Corleone 'vuelve a volar' en la Arena México". Récord (in Spanish). Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  16. ↑ Salazar López, Alexis A. "Viernes 23 de Diciembre '11". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2011-12-25.
  17. ↑ "El Bufete del Amor busca seguir triunfando". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  18. 1 2 Huerta, Diego (February 19, 2012). "Corleone, Rush y Máximo, nuevos Campeones Mundiales de Tríos CMLL". Récord (in Spanish). Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Sigue reinando el Buffet del Amor en el CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). February 18, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Volador y la Sombra a la Final del Torneo de Parejas Increíbles". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  21. ↑ Salazar López, Alexis A. (March 1, 2013). "Atlantis y Último Guerrero ¿Estaremos frente a un duelo candidato para conmemorar el 80 Aniversario del CMLL?". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  22. ↑ Boutwell, Josh (May 11, 2013). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly for 5/11/13". WrestleView. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  23. ↑ "CMLL on Televisa Results".
  24. 1 2 Zamora, Antonio (September 16, 2014). "Rush y Marco Corleone ganan la Copa CMLL en la Arena Puebla". Periódico Enfoque (in Spanish). Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Marco Corleone se desvaneció en la Arena Coliseo". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  26. ↑ "CMLL Guerreros del Ring Results".
  27. 1 2 Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  28. ↑ "Marco Corleone, el luchador que amenaza a Fernando Colunga".
  29. ↑ "More Details On Nikki Bella Injury, Former WWE Star / CMLL Star Married".
  30. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 2008: 172 Marco Corleone". Pro Wrestling Illustrated (Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment publications LLC). August 2008. p. 90. October 2008.
  31. ↑ "7/30 Lucha Libre USA TV taping: Spoiler results for Season 3 premiere episodes, update on Season 2, former DX member debuts".
  32. ↑ "WCW profile".
  33. 1 2 3 "3/27 Velocity review: Mark Jindrak's Velocity debut, Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn vs. Akio & Sakoda".
  34. 1 2 3 4 "5/8 WWE Velocity review: Rico & Charlie Haas defend tag titles, Jamie Noble vs. Spike Dudley".
  35. 1 2 "5/18 WWE in Las Vegas, Nev.: Detailed Smackdown/Velocity tapings".
  36. ↑ "10/13 WWE Heat review: Jindrak-Justin, Storm-Stamboli".
  37. ↑ "5/22 WWE Velocity review: Jamie Noble vs. Shannon Moore, Paul London vs. Mark Jindrak".
  38. 1 2 3 "6/26 WWE Velocity review: Scoot Andrews vs. Johnny Stamboli, Charlie Haas vs. Sakoda, Mark Jindrak vs. Hardcore Holly".
  39. 1 2 "7/31 WWE Velocity review: JBL vs. Shannon Moore, Chavo Guerrero vs. Funaki, and more".
  40. 1 2 "4/3 WWE Velocity review: Mark Jindrak vs. Shannon Moore, Rico's Velocity debut".
  41. 1 2 "12/6 WWE Velocity review: Fantastic Paul London vs. Akio match, Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jindrak & Reigns vs. Nunzio & Funaki".
  42. ↑ "7/17 Velocity review: RVD vs. Akio, Gunn vs. Jindrak, Nunzio vs. Doug Basham, and a Velocity Exclusive!".
  43. ↑ "1/1 WWE Velocity review: Kidman vs. Chavo, Suzuki vs. London, Haas & Holly vs. Jindrak & Reigns".
  44. ↑ "6/1 WWE in Toronto: Results of Smackdown and Velocity tapings".
  45. 1 2 3 4 "Themes".
  46. ↑ "2006 Copa Higher Power Tournament".
  47. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 2001". Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  48. ↑ http://www.purolove.com/misc/kensuke/profiles/kensukesasaki.php
  49. ↑ "Suzuki Cup 2007".
  50. ↑ "Suzuki Cup 2008".
  51. ↑ Varsallone, Jim (2010-07-23). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  52. ↑ "December 2006 PPV "Sin Piedad"". Pro Wrestling History. December 15, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2010.

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