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Real Name: Ken Shamrock
(born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick) |
| Height: 6'0'' |
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Weight: 235 lbs |
Date of Birth: February 11, 1964
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Born: Macon, Georgia, United States
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Resides: Susanville, California, United States
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Billed From: Sacramento, California, United States
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Trained By: Nelson Royal, Bob Sawyer, Buzz Sawyer
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Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is a American mixed martial arts fighter and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his participation in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the World Wrestling Federation, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he became their first ever World Heavyweight Champion. Shamrock is currently a subject matter expert in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). He has written two books, Inside the Lion's Den and Beyond the Lion's Den. He is the adoptive older brother of mixed martial arts fighter Frank Shamrock.
Professional Wrestling Career
In 1988, Shamrock trained as a professional wrestler under Bob Sawyer, Buzz Sawyer, and Nelson Royal. He debuted in 1990 in the Charlotte, North Carolina-based South Atlantic Pro Wrestling promotion under the ring name Wayne Shamrock. He later changed his ring name to Vince Torelli and turned heel, adopting the nickname "Mr. Wrestling". In 1990, Shamrock travelled to Japan, where he competed in the Universal Wrestling Federation and its successor promotion, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi.
His first taste of mixed martial arts came following the exodus of his mentors Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki from Fujiwara's promotion to found one of the formative Japanese mixed martial arts associations, Pancrase. Later, he returned to America to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Shamrock would split time between the two organizations until 1996, whereupon he returned to professional wrestling, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation (1997-1999)
Shamrock made his WWF debut on the February 24, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw. On March 23, 1997, Shamrock, identified as Ken Shamrock and billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man" — a name given to him by ABC News, refereed a submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13.
Shamrock returned to the ring following WrestleMania, squashing Vernon White (one of his Lion's Den students) in his debut WWF match. He went on to feud with Vader, Bret Hart, and The Hart Foundation throughout 1997, culminating in a bout between Shamrock and The British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1997 which Shamrock lost after refusing to relinquish a chokehold. Shamrock went on to challenge Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at In Your House in December, defeating Michaels by disqualification after Triple H and Chyna interfered in the match.
Throughout early 1998, Shamrock feuded with WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia. He lost to Maivia via disqualification at the 1998 Royal Rumble, and a victory over Maivia at WrestleMania XIV was reversed after Shamrock continued to apply his ankle lock after Maivia had submitted. In June 1998, Shamrock won the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jeff Jarrett in the semi-finals and Maivia in the finals. Following the King of the Ring, Shamrock feuded with Owen Hart, with Hart defeating Shamrock in a "Hart Family Dungeon match" at Fully Loaded and Shamrock defeating Hart in a "Lion's Den match" at SummerSlam. In September, he formed a short-lived stable with Mankind and The Rock.
Shamrock turned heel in October 1998, and won the vacant Intercontinental Championship on October 12, defeating X-Pac in the finals of an eight man tournament. In November, Shamrock consolidated his heel status by joining Mr. McMahon's Corporation. On December 14, Shamrock and fellow Corporation member Big Boss Man defeated the New Age Outlaws for the WWF World Tag Team Championship, making Shamrock a dual champion. The duo held the titles until January 25, 1999, when they lost to Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart.
In January 1999, Shamrock began feuding with Billy Gunn, Goldust, and Val Venis, all of whom had made overtures to his sister, Ryan. He lost the Intercontinental Championship to Venis on February 14 when Gunn, the guest referee, delivered a fast count. Shamrock took part in a four way bout for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XV. The reigning champion Road Dogg, was able to retain his title by pinning Goldust after Shamrock and Venis were counted out while brawling outside the ring.
In mid-1999, the Corporation began feuding with The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness, with The Undertaker's minions repeatedly ambushing Shamrock and kidnapping Ryan. After breaking away from the Corporation, thus turning face once more, Shamrock went on to lose to The Undertaker at Backlash. In May, Shamrock, Big Show, Mankind, and Test formed The Union, a stable of wrestlers in opposition to the Corporate Ministry. The Union dissolved after defeating the Corporate Ministry at Over the Edge in May.
Shamrock briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett before beginning a rivalry with martial artist Steve Blackman that saw he and Blackman fight one another in a series of unorthodox matches. The feud ended at SummerSlam 1999, where Shamrock defeated Blackman in a "Lion's Den match". He went on to feud with the newly debuted Chris Jericho until departing the WWF in late 1999 in order to resume his mixed martial arts career. His departure was attributed to an injury inflicted by Jericho's bodyguard, Mr. Hughes.
Ring of Honor (2002)
Shamrock returned to professional wrestling in March 2002, refereeing a Ring of Honor match between American Dragon and Low Ki.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002, 2004)
In May 2002, Ken Shamrock signed a one year contract with the newly formed Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. On the inaugural NWA-TNA Pay-Per-View on June 19, Shamrock won a 20-Man Gauntlet For The Gold, to become the first ever World Heavyweight Champion in TNA Wrestling, in the form of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, when the National Wrestling Alliance was sanctioning recognition to TNA Champions. The Gauntlet featured Malice, Jeff Jarrett, Buff Bagwell, Lash LeRoux, Norman Smiley, Apolo, K-Krush, Slash, Del Rios, Prince Justice, Konnan, Bruce, Rick Steiner, Scott Hall, Toby Keith, Chris Harris, Vampire Warrior, Devon Storm, Steve Corino, and Brian Lawler.
After feuding with Malice for several weeks, Shamrock left TNA shortly after losing the title to Ron Killings on August 7. He briefly returned to TNA in June 2004 as an ally of Jeff Jarrett before leaving the company and the industry once more.
MMA Career
Shamrock's martial arts career began following the dismantling of the UWF, in the inaugural Pancrase show. In the event, Ken Shamrock defeated Masakatsu Funaki by an arm-triangle choke. There was some irony in this, as it was Funaki who had, along with Karl Gotch and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, taught Shamrock the art of catch wrestling during their days as professional wrestlers.
Shamrock went on to win in the two subsequent Pancrase shows before returning to America to fight in the newly formed Ultimate Fighting Championships. In spite of their status as competitors in the unrehearsed environment of Pancrase, Funaki served as Shamrock's head trainer for the event. Held under a one-night tournament format with minimal rules (in contrast to Pancrase, which had extensive rules and a gentleman's agreement not to strike on the ground) Shamrock progressed to the semi-finals by defeating Patrick Smith via leglock. However, he fell to Royce Gracie in his next fight, as Gracie choked Shamrock out. Despite this loss, Shamrock continued to shine in Pancrase, losing to Funaki and another of his mentors, Minoru Suzuki, but nonetheless defeating Manabu Yamada in the finals of a 24-man tournament to crown Pancrase's first champion. He also picked up a pair of wins against future mixed martial arts legend Bas Rutten.
Shamrock also founded the Lion's Den, a group dedicated to the training of mixed martial arts fighters. Many Lion's Den fighters such as Pete Williams, Jerry Bolander, and Tra Telligman have achieved success in mixed martial arts. Others, such as Guy Mezger and Frank Shamrock have become legends in their own right.
At UFC 5 in May 1995, Shamrock and Gracie squared off in the UFC's first ever "Superfight." Unfortunately, the match did not live up to expectations. At UFC 5 the UFC had instituted time limits and Shamrock and Gracie fought for the entire allotted time of 30 minutes along with 5 minutes of overtime before the match was declared a draw. Shamrock then defeated Dan Severn for the newly-created Superfight belt, successfully defending this title against Oleg Taktarov and Kimo Leopoldo. In 1996, he lost the belt via judges decision in a rematch with Severn. The Severn bout marked the last time Masakatsu Funaki would serve as Ken Shamrock's trainer and cornerman.
In 2000, he went on to compete in the PRIDE Fighting Championships. Ken Shamrock defeated Alexander Otsuka by TKO at Pride Grand Prix Finals 2000 and lost to Kazuyuki Fujita.
Shamrock engaged in a feud with Don Frye during his career in the PRIDE Fighting Championships. In 1999, Alicia Webb (also known as Ryan Shamrock) dated Ken Shamrock until early 2003. Don Frye made comments on this case which Ken Shamrock cheated on and divorced his wife to date a young girl (Alicia Webb was 19 and Ken Shamrock was 35 when they started dating). Ken Shamrock was enraged by his personal life leaking out causing a feud between Ken Shamrock and Don Frye. The feud ended in a match during PRIDE 19 - Bad Blood in which Don Frye won by split decision. The two fighters have been on good terms after that match.
Shamrock's Lion's Den has engaged in a feud with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz defeated Lion's Den fighters Jerry Bolander and Guy Mezger, eventually facing Shamrock in one of the highest-selling mixed martial arts Pay Per View events of all time in the United States. At UFC 40, Ortiz defeated an injured Shamrock by TKO (corner stoppage).
April 9, 2005, was a turning point in Shamrock's career and future in mixed martial arts. In the main event, the first ever UFC appearance on basic cable TV, on the popular reality series The Ultimate Fighter finale, Shamrock faced rising star Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight bout. Although Shamrock had more experience and almost caught Franklin in a modified heel hook, he was defeated by a TKO in the first round when Franklin took advantage of Shamrock's slip (while executing a kick) and ground and pounded him to victory.
On October 24, 2005, Shamrock lost to fellow mixed martial arts legend Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in PRIDE: Fully Loaded, by TKO. The decision to stop the fight was controversial to some, including Shamrock, since he was able to get right back up after being knocked down. However, Ken did turn his back to Sakuraba and wasn't intelligently defending himself, so the referee stopped the fight. His own brother Frank Shamrock commented on the stoppage in an interview with the site Sherdog.com: "…if you’re sleeping with your head through the second rope, you’re in a bad way. He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules he was no longer defending himself and that’s the end of the fight."
On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Dana White, the UFC president, announced that Shamrock would be one of the coaches (along with Tito Ortiz) for the upcoming third season of The Ultimate Fighter. At UFC 61 Shamrock and Ortiz had a rematch of their UFC 40 fight.
On July 8, 2006, Shamrock faced Ortiz for the second time at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals and lost in 1:18 of the first round by a technical knockout. Although Shamrock landed some punches to back Ortiz up, the latter successfully secured a double leg takedown on Shamrock, lifting him up and slamming him to the mat. Although Shamrock was now on his back in a disadvantageous position, he did have Ortiz in his full guard. Ortiz, while in Shamrock's full guard, was able to land several elbows to Shamrock's head which went undefended. Referee Herb Dean deemed that Shamrock was no longer able to intelligently defend himself and stopped the fight.
On October 10, 2006, Shamrock lost to Ortiz for the third and final time by KO after referee John McCarthy stopped the fight following multiple undefended fist strikes. Immediately after the fight, Ortiz initially celebrated his victory with a mocking "grave digger" routine and an offensive t-shirt that said, "Punishing Him Into Retirement." However, Shamrock approached Ortiz and, after the two talked for several seconds, Shamrock said they could put all of their animosity aside as it was always "just business", shaking hands and burying the hatchet. Ortiz then declared that facing Shamrock had made him a better fighter, and thanked Ken for "passing the torch." Shamrock gave a gracious speech after the fight but left it ambiguous whether he would retire from the sport. In an interview with Sherdog.com, he stated he was not leaning one way or another whether he will not fight again, but he did not want to lead the fans on.
In a recent press conference, it has been announced that Ken Shamrock will be the coach of the Nevada Lions for the IFL starting next year.
Ken was released of his UFC contract as of June 2007. He currently claims to be in the best shape in 7 years, due to the fact all of his injuries have been cured, and he has been training hard. He says he is ready to fight. He has shared his exciting future plans of an "old school mma tournament with various "old school" fighters" on radio stations that you can hear on sherdog.com labeled "Quadros: Rashad Evans & Ken Shamrock.
Credit: Wikipedia.org 
