| Nathan Jones |
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| Nathan Jones
Height: 6'10" Weight: 340 lbs. Hometown: Sydney, Australia Finishing move: Chokeslam, Gutwrench suplex Pro debut: October 11, 1997 Other aliases: "The Front Row", "The Colossus of Boggo Road" (WWE) Career highlights: NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion (w/John Heidenreich), WWA Heavyweight Champion Trained by: Ultimate Pro Wrestling, Mike Bell, Tom Howard Before his career as a wrestler, Nathan Jones spent ten years in prison for his role in several armed robberies in the 1980's. While in prison, he was introduced to the sport of powerlifting. Within a short space of time, Nathan had become the National Powerlifting Champion of Australia. Nathan also began competing in strongman contests. On the strongman circuit, he was dubbed The Megaman for his imposing 6' 11½", 360 pound physique. As the reigning Australia's Strongest Man, he entered the World Strength Championship at Callander, Scotland on July 29-30, 1995. He took first place, topping a field that included 1993 World's Strongest Man Gary Taylor. The following weekend, he competed in the World Musclepower Championship held at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. That contest was won by Magnus Ver Magnusson, with Nathan finishing fifth in a field of twelve competitors. Nathan next took part in the 1995 World's Strongest Man contest. In the arm wrestling event in the qualifying heat, he was matched against Magnus Samuelsson, who had been Sweden's arm wrestling champion for several years. Samuelsson won the first match after a back and forth battle. Then, as Samuelsson was about to win the second match, Nathan pulled himself with his opposite arm in a last ditch effort, and suffered a broken arm (a spiral fracture of the humerus). Jones returned to strongman competition in 1996 and placed 3rd in a Heat behind Magnus ver Magnusson and Jorma Ojanaho. Later, Nathan worked as a bodyguard for infamous known money man Rene Rivkin. He also began a career in wrestling during this time. Jones first gained fame working in the World Wrestling All-Stars, making a large impression at the first WWA Pay Per View Inception, where he was accompanied to the ring by Rove McManus. He also participated in a worked MMA match at PRIDE 1 with PRIDE Fighting Championship in October 1997, submitting to Japanese sumo wrestler Koji Kitao in his only match. During his time in the WWA, Nathan won the WWA Heavyweight Championship on April 7, 2002 before losing the belt to Scott Steiner. Both men joined World Wrestling Entertainment during the same time period. Jones' first appearance as a WWE superstar was in a storyline where he became the Undertaker's protege. He was scheduled to team with Undertaker to face Big Show and A-Train at WrestleMania XIX, but was billed as injured, only appearing during the closing moments of the match to assist Undertaker. Nathan was then sent to OVW to improve his wrestling ability. When Nathan was sent there he was down in strength and was only 300 pounds, much smaller than when he competed in WSM. In the OVW school Nathan got back into shape, adding over 40 pounds of muscle back onto his huge frame. It was during this period that Jones appeared in a bit part for the movie Troy, as Boagrius, a warrior who fights Achilles. Nathan then was absent from WWE TV for several months, returning as a heel known by the nickname "The Colossus of Boggo Road", a title referring to his time spent in Boggo Road Prison. He formed part of Brock Lesnar's Survivor Series team, which also included the Big Show, A-Train and Matt Morgan. The rigour of WWE lifestyle became too much for Nathan, and he quit the company on December 6, 2003 while on the WWE Passport to SmackDown! Tour in Perth, Australia. Since then, Nathan was scheduled to make his return at the Australian Wrestling Supershow, but did not appear as advertised at the event. Nathan Jones appeared as part of World Series Wrestling's International Assault Tour in Australia in October 2005. He appears as bad guy "TK" in the Thai martial arts movie Tom-Yum-Goong and as the wrestler Hercules O'Brien in the Jet Li wuxia movie Fearless. Nathan's weight varies. At his heaviest he weighed in at 172 kg (380 pounds), yet has admitted that a lot of it was bodyfat. According to Nathan the weight was for leverage in powerlifting. Today normally his weight is about 150 kg (330 pounds) lean, with visible abs and vascularity. Also according to Jones, the heaviest he has ever been lean was 165 kg (360 pounds) for his role in the movie Troy. Nathan added 30 pounds (15 kg) of muscle for his role in the film Troy during his stay at OVW. |