Chad Fortune

Chad Fortune
Birth name Chad A. Fortune
Born (1967-08-13) August 13, 1967
Roswell, Georgia
Residence Gary, Indiana
Alma mater University of Louisville
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Chad Fortune
Travis
Billed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Billed weight 240 lb (110 kg)
Trained by WCW Power Plant
Debut 1994
Retired 2000

Chad A. Fortune (born August 13, 1967) is a monster truck driver, former professional American football player and former professional wrestler in both WWF and WCW.

Football career

Fortune played tight end at the University of Louisville from 1986-1989.[1] Following his college career he signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts but was released prior to the start of the 1990 season.[2] Fortune spent time on the practice squad of both the Miami Dolphins[3] and Colts during the 1990 season.[4] He competed in the Philadelphia Eagles 1991 training camp, but the team released him to clear a roster spot for Kenny Jackson.[5]

Fortune was signed at various points of 1992 NFL preseason, with the Washington Redskins,[6] Dallas Cowboys,[7] and Chicago Bears. He was on the Bears practice squad at the start of the 1992 season, missing some time due to an allergic reaction caused by a bee sting.[8] Fortune was promoted to the main roster, and spent part of the 1992 season as the team's 3rd string tight end.[9]

Fortune was also a starting Tight End for the Frankfurt Galaxy during both their 1991 and 1992 seasons.[10]

Professional wrestling

In 1994, Fortune would start his wrestling career in Minnesota's AWA. He would reunite with Erik Watts as they were teammates of the University of Louisville.

Fortune, under the ring name "Travis", and Erik Watts, under the ring name Troy, performed in the WWF as Tekno Team 2000.[11] Wearing silver smocks and tight zubaz, their gimmick was that they represented the cutting edge of cyberculture. Their tag team made its debut on the May 27, 1995 episode of Superstars in a victorious effort against Brooklyn Brawler and Barry Horowitz.[12] They wrestled two more matches on TV the following month before disappearing from television until July 1995 for the In Your House Pay-Per-View acting as lumberjacks for the main event. After the Pay-Per-View they disappeared off of television for a year being sent to USWA, only to resurface back on WWF television in 1996. They got a WWE Tag Team title shot against the Bodydonnas. Fortune signed a WCW contract in 1997. He wrestled mainly on the taped shows such as WCW Worldwide. He and Dale Torborg were briefly a tag team known as "The Pit Crew".[13] Fortune was one of many wrestlers released by WCW in October 1999.[14]

Although a dark match before his official WCW debut, Bill Goldberg also gives credit to Fortune for serving him his first official wrestling loss in his autobiography, I'm Next.

Monster trucks

In 2000, SFX Entertainment (recently Live Nation, now Feld Entertainment) signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling to bring WCW-based trucks to their USHRA Monster Jam series, which gave Fortune, through wrestling, his start in monster trucks. He was initially an unnamed "spokesman" for the nWo truck, who would give antagonistic interviews while the driver, Rob Knell, acted as being focused on the truck. Many in the industry were vocal against the use of professional wrestling gimmicks for drivers, and the truck only lasted one season.

The following year, Fortune began driving the WCW Nitro Machine truck in the winter season, then bounced around trucks during the summer.[15] He gave Karl Malone a ride in the WCW Nitro truck and the two became friends.[16] In 2002, when Karl Malone signed a deal with SFX/Clear Channel to create a truck called Power Forward. Fortune was chosen as the driver and drove the truck for three years, reaching the World Finals in 2002 and 2003.[17]

In 2005, Fortune brought to the table the idea of the Superman truck. The company thought this was a great pitch and created the new truck. Based on his professional wrestling background, he decided to dye his hair black and alter his look to match the character of Superman. He was quite successful in the Superman truck, and even made the final rounds of several stadium events. He was then given the "Most Improved Driver" award for 2005.[17] In 2012, 2013 and 2014 Monster Jam Seasons, Chad then drove the new Captain America truck, one of the two Marvel comic trucks coming back onto the circuit along with Alex Blackwell who was to drive Wolverine (Blackwell drove Wolverine only for one season.) In the 2015 season, Fortune initiated the idea of the "Soldier Fortune" truck honoring the United States Armed Forces. This truck is also named after him.

In wrestling

References

  1. ↑ Louisville UofLSports.com - University of Louisville Official Athletic Site
  2. ↑ For the RecordWashington Post. August 18, 1990
  3. ↑ Dolphins Defense Next Test for Cards Victor Lee, Palm Beach post November 1, 1990 Mentions release
  4. ↑ Wagner Might Be Cure For Bears' Receiving IllsDan Pompei. Chicago-Sun Times.September 8, 1992. Section Fortune for Bears.
  5. ↑ Special Team for Him Jets assistant Roberts has soft spot for Birds Kevin Mulligan. Philadelphia Daily News. August 3, 1991.
  6. ↑ Redskins notebook: Team gives boot to 12, including punter. Richard Justice. Washington Post. August 25, 1992.
  7. ↑ Signings of Rice, three key Redskins, may affect game, salaries Richie Whittstar. Fort Worth Star-Telegram August 26, 1992,
  8. ↑ Stinson Bares Latest Predictions Dan Pompei. Chicago-Sun Times. October 1, 1992. Mentions injury.
  9. ↑ Behind the wheel is an ex-Chicago Bear Nancy Moffett, Chicago Sun-Times May 23, 2003
  10. ↑ http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8527119 "Europass: Wrestling with NFL Europe success" Carlson, Mike. June 05, 2005. Accessed July 09, 2007
  11. ↑ Online World of Wrestling
  12. ↑ Chad Fortune - Biography
  13. ↑ Online World of Wrestling
  14. ↑ 'Halloween Havoc' may be a timely WCW treat Blackjack Brown. Chicago Sun-Times. October 24, 1999.
  15. ↑ http://www.monsterjamonline.com/drivers/Driver.2003-10-28.5220 Chad Fortune Monster Jam bio.
  16. ↑ http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/Mar-22-Fri-2002/weekly/18295311.html Ken White "Wild Ride" Las Vegas Review-Journal March 22, 2002. Accessed July 14, 2007.
  17. 1 2 Monsterjamonline
  18. ↑ "Other arena's finishing movelist".

External links

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