Professional Wrestling Career
Sweeney's first professional match took place at the Windy City Pro Wrestling Battle of the Belts 2000 on May 20, 2000, at the Hammond Civic Center in Hammond, Indiana. He wrestled under the ring name 'El Zapatista' and participated in a 3-ring, 120-man battle royale. He did not decide to pursue a career in professional wrestling until 2002, when he was living in India and training in amateur wrestling at the Sri Satpal Pehlewan Akhara at the Chattrasol Stadium in Model Town, Delhi, India. After returning to the states and completing his studies, he enrolled in the Chikara Wrestle Factory in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in September 2003, under head trainer Mike Quackenbush and co-instructors Chris Hero and Skayde. Sweeney also received training from Buddy Rose and Colonel DeBeers in Portland, Oregon, before debuting on May 1, 2004, in Ludlow, Massachusetts.
On June 16, 2005, he defeated veteran wrestler Glen Osbourne for the PWE Heavyweight Championship in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He went on to hold the title for 11 months before losing it to Mike Quackenbush in May 2006; in the meantime he had become a regular for many of the larger independent wrestling companies in the US. In July 2006, he represented Chikara at MXW's InterPromotional Incident. On July 31, 2006, Sweeney made an appearance on Raw, broadcast live from the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey, where he played an imposter Nick Hogan in a segment titled "Orton Knows Best". Later that year, he was the subject of the 'Introducing' feature article in the national magazine The Wrestler.
2007 saw him go on to a feud with Bryan Alvarez over the ICW/ICWA Texarkana Television Championship. On May 11, 2007, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, he won the IWC Super Indy Title after defeating "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal, Azrieal, and Shima Xion in a one-night tournament. He has since gone on to feud for the title with "Fabulous" John McChesney, who defeated him for the title on July 7. After chasing McChesney for over six months, Sweeney regained the title on January 19, 2008, after winning a Texarkana Death Match. On July 20, 2007, Sweeney was crowned the first CWE Undisputed Champion after defeating Eddie Kingston and Chris Hero in separate matches in Youngstown, Ohio.
He competed in a War Games match for the NWA Upstate promotion in Rochester, New York, in April 2007, after successfully defending the ICW/ICWA title against Eddie Kingston in a strap match the night before at Colgate University. Sweeney made his debut with the Hawaii based promotion Action Zone Wrestling on January 7, 2008, CIMA at their event Battleclash III, a match billed on his 'ain't no doubt about it' DVD as the 66th Pearl Harbor anniversary showdown. He also participated in a Boxer vs Wrestler match against Larry Barnes (44-3-0, 17 KO's) on April 5, 2008, in New Rochelle, New York, at New Rochelle High School for the New York State Wrestling Federation.
In November 2008 he announced the formation of his own company, Bad Brothers of Wrestling (BBOW). Sweeney promoted two shows, in April 2007 and October 2008, at Colgate University and announced plans to run shows at schools and carnivals, primarily in the Midwest.
Read more about this topic: Larry Sweeney
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