Too Cool
Too Cool, originally known as Too Much, was a professional wrestling tag team and group active in the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) between 1998 and 2001 and for a short time in 2004 and 2014. The group contained members Grandmaster Sexay, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Rikishi.[1]
Too Cool | |
---|---|
Grandmaster Sexay (left) and Scotty 2 Hotty in London, England | |
Stable | |
Members | Scott Taylor / Scotty 2 Hotty[1][2] Brian Christopher / Grandmaster Sexay[1][2] Rikishi[1] |
Name(s) | Too Cool[1][2] Too Much[2] |
Debut | March 1998 |
Years active | 1998–2001 2003 2007 2012 2014–2018 |
History
1998–1999
The duo of "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and "Too Hot" Scott Taylor were originally a tag team known as Too Much.[1] They made their appearance at WrestleMania XIV in a tag battle royal won by L.O.D. 2000. The team feuded with fellow light heavyweight wrestlers such as Taka Michinoku and aided Jerry "The King" Lawler (Christopher's father) in his feud with Al Snow. They also feuded with The Headbangers, The Oddities, 8-Ball and Skull and The Hardy Boyz.
In 1999, Christopher became Grandmaster Sexay, Taylor became Scotty Too Hotty (later spelled as Scotty 2 Hotty) and Too Much was rebranded as Too Cool, debuting on television during the June 13, 1999 episode of Sunday Night Heat. They originally remained villainous characters, but in late 1999, around the time Rikishi Fatu joined the team, they turned into fan favorites. Too Cool's new characteristic was that of hip hop fans, which saw the trio of Scotty 2 Hotty, Grandmaster Sexay and Rikishi Phatu dancing around the ring while lights flashed and dance music played, an act that quickly became very popular with fans. In addition to the wildly popular post-match dancing routine, several of Too Cool's signature moves became extremely popular with the fans, including Scotty 2 Hotty's "The Worm" and Rikishi Phatu's Stink Face.
2000–2001
A famous moment came when the trio were all participants in the 2000 Royal Rumble.[3] Rikishi had eliminated all three entrants in the match thus far, leaving only him and Grandmaster Sexay in the ring. Rikishi looked as if he was about to throw Grandmaster Sexay out of the ring to eliminate him from the Rumble, but Scotty 2 Hotty entered the match next and convinced Rikishi to instead dance to their music while the Rumble match was still ongoing. At the conclusion of their dance segment in the middle of the Rumble, Rikishi surprised his teammates by delivering a double clothesline and throwing them both to the outside to eliminate them.[3] Rikishi shrugged his shoulders and his partners accepted the elimination with a good humor; no dissension would arise between them. Soon after this, Christopher suffered an injury and while he was recuperating, Scotty won the Light Heavyweight Championship.[4]
Too Cool received arguably their biggest push when they became embroiled in a feud against the McMahon-Helmsley Regime, mainly wrestling against D-Generation X members Triple H, "The Road Dogg" Jesse James and X-Pac, along with a feud against the Radicalz. Too Cool participated in several main events on television during this push, including a 10-man tag team match on WWE Raw where Too Cool teamed with The Rock and Mick Foley (as Cactus Jack) against Triple H, X-Pac and The Radicalz.
Too Cool's success would peak in the middle of 2000 when Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay defeated Edge and Christian for the Tag Team Championship on an episode of Raw is War on May 29, 2000,[5] while Rikishi would defeat Chris Benoit for the Intercontinental Championship on the June 20 edition of SmackDown![6]
Despite enjoying immense popularity among the fans, Too Cool began to fragment in late 2000 when Rikishi left the group after becoming a villain. In March 2001, Too Cool fully disbanded when Scotty was, in storyline, sidelined with a broken ankle caused by Kurt Angle. In reality, he needed time off for neck surgery. That same year, Sexay was released from the WWF after he was detained while attempting to cross the Canada–United States border with illegal drugs in his possession. After returning, Scotty formed a new tag team with Albert called The Zoo Crew that lasted until March 2002.[7] Scotty would injure his neck in April 2002 and was inactive for over a year.
2003–2004
Rikishi would eventually become a face again and reunited with Scotty 2 Hotty, who returned after an 18 month absence from a neck injury to compete on the SmackDown! brand in October 2003. Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty won the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 5, 2004 after defeating the Basham Brothers.[8] Also around this time, the WWE briefly re-hired Grand Master Sexay, although he was on the Raw brand and had no interaction with Scotty 2 Hotty or Rikishi. They held the title for a little over two months, including a successful title defense at WrestleMania XX, before losing the titles to Charlie Haas and Rico on April 22.[8] Rikishi would be released from the company shortly after the title loss, while Scotty remained with the company until being released on May 15, 2007.[9]
2014
On the January 6, 2014 episode of Old School Raw, Too Cool reunited with Rikishi, defeating 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) in a six-man tag match. This was the first time in over 13 years that the trio were in a 6-man tag team match. Too Cool also appeared at NXT Arrival, challenging The Ascension for the NXT Tag Team Championship. The Ascension would prevail however, retaining the titles.
Independent circuit
Sexay and Hotty would reunite after 2 and half years for one night on September 28, 2003 for Memphis Wrestling. They defeated Doug Gilbert and Shock.
After Scotty 2 Hotty was released from WWE, he briefly reunited with Grandmaster Sexay to compete for the UWF Live's Rock 'n' Express Tag Team Tournament. In the second round of the tournament on July 19, 2007, Too Cool defeated the Extreme Horsemen (C.W. Anderson and Steve Corino).[10] The next day, Too Cool lost to the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) in the semi-final match of the Winner's Bracket.[10] Too Cool made their final appearance for the UWF on July 21 as they lost to The Naturals in the third round match to of the Loser's Bracket.[10]
In 2009, Sexay and Rikishi reunited to compete for the Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin Tour in Australia. Due to copyright issues with World Wrestling Entertainment, Sexay and Rikishi competed as Brian Christopher and Solofa Fatu, Jr., respectively, and were unable to use the Too Cool name. On November 21, the first night of the tour, they defeated Orlando Jordan and Umaga.[11] Three days later, they defeated Rock of Love (Billy Blade and Kadin Anthony).[12] On November 26, Christopher and Fatu teamed with The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) to defeat Black Pearl, Vampire Warrior and Rock of Love.[13] On November 28, the final night of the tour, Fatu and Christopher defeated Pearl and Warrior.[14] Later, the three would go on to reunite in Gangrel's Territory League promotion as part of the Las Vegas Highrollers team.
In March 2014, Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty reunited at Memphis Power Wrestling's Revenge at Resorts II Cool Event to compete against Chase Stevens and Crimson. Too Cool won the match, but were attacked post-match by Cerebus, Doug Gilbert, and Bill Dundee. On September 5, 2014, Too Cool faced the Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) Tag Team Champions The Black Wall Street (Naplam Bomb and Solo) in a losing effort.[15] On February 22, 2015, Scotty and Sexay made an appearance at Lincoln Fight Factory Wrestling Turn It Up, defeating S C Supreme and Stixx. They continued to make appearances at conventions and some independent wrestling shows until Brian Christopher Lawler's death in July 2018.
Incarnations
Championships and accomplishments
- World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time) - Rikishi[6]
- WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - Scotty[4]
- WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Scotty and Sexay[5]
- WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Scotty and Rikishi[8]
References
- "OWOW profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- "Cagematch profile".
- Powell, John (2000-01-17). "Rocky wins the Rumble; A bloody Triple H defeats Cactus Jack". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- "Light Heavyweight Championship history". WWE. April 17, 2000. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- "World Tag Team Championship history". WWE. May 29, 2000. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
- "Intercontinental Championship history". WWE. June 20, 2000. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
- "Scotty 2 Hotty's OWOW profile".
- "WWE Tag Team Championship history". WWE. February 5, 2004. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- "Scotty 2 Hotty released".
- "Cagematch match listings, page 1".
- "Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin Tour, night 1".
- "Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin Tour, night 2".
- "Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin Tour, night 3".
- "Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin Tour, night 4".
- "MCW Rally In The Ally « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
External links
- Too Cool Profile at Online World Of Wrestling
- Grandmaster Sexay Profile at Online World Of Wrestling
- Scotty 2 Hotty Profile at Online World Of Wrestling
- Rikishi Profile at Online World Of Wrestling