Dale Christian Torborg (October 24, 1971) is an American baseball trainer and former professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling as The Demon, a gimmick based on the popular hard rock band KISS. He has also appeared with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as well.
Wrestling History
World Championship Wrestling
In 1995 on the way to LA, Torborg met Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. The two of them spoke with Torborg about going into the wrestling business. Torborg was trained by The Warlord and Jim Neidhart and debuted in 1998. He debuted in WCW and was said to have been a member of the WCW Pit Crew and was training in the WCW Power Plant.
In 1995, he then worked for the American Wrestling Federation as The MVP, a baseball player character. After the AWF closed he was briefly employed by the World Wrestling Federation and used the MVP gimmick there, but was released shortly thereafter. In 1998, he was hired by World Championship Wrestling where he spent the beginning of his tenure as an enhancement talent on the minor WCW weekend shows, WCW Saturday Night and WCW Pro. His fortunes changed in 1999 when WCW head Eric Bischoff struck a deal with the heavy metal band KISS to create a KISS themed wrestler, "The KISS Demon", a gimmick that was meant to be the wrestling alter ego of performer Gene Simmons. Brian Adams passed on the gimmick after one appearance and it was subsequently passed onto Torborg. He was managed by Asya, who he later married. The "Demon" character was originally supposed to be the beginning of a stable called The Warriors of KISS, in which the other original members of the band would have a wrestler representing their look and gimmick.[1] KISS was guaranteed their "Demon" themed wrestler would wrestle a Main Event match with the contract they made with WCW. This was supposed to happen at a special 1999 New Year's Eve PPV against Vampiro. The PPV and the match were taken off the table, however, after Eric Bischoff lost his position. In order to fulfill the contractual obligation, he was booked in a "Special Main Event" match at Superbrawl in early 2000. Uncharacteristic to "Main Event" matches, it was the fourth match on the card and saw Torborg face The Wall which saw The Wall win with a chokeslam.
Afterwards, he was known simply as "The Demon" and placed in a stable with Vampiro and The Insane Clown Posse called The Dark Carnival. He later turned against the group and feuded with Vampiro. When WCW was bought out by the then-World Wrestling Federation in 2001, Torborg's contract was not picked up.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Torborg appeared with White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski on a prime time episode of TNA Impact! on December 8, 2005. Along with veteran wrestling manager and color commentator Bobby Heenan. Torborg and Pierzynski presented A.J. Styles, Chris Sabin and Sonjay Dutt with memorabilia from the 2005 World Series until they were interrupted by the Diamonds in the Rough. Simon Diamond, the leader of the Diamonds and himself a former baseball player, mocked Pierzynski's .256 batting average, telling him that he needed a designated hitter. Diamond then slapped Torborg, leading to a brawl. As a result, Torborg, Sabin and Dutt, with Pierzynski in their corner, faced the Diamonds at TNA Turning Point 2005 on December 11. At Turning Point, Dutt pinned Diamond following interference from then-Boston Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon.
On the January 18, 2007 edition of iMPACT!, Pierzynski and Torborg attacked Lance Hoyt, helping James Storm win, who was also aided by Miss Tennessee.Torborg and Pierzynski's appearance were some of the highest rated episodes for TNA.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Demon Sniper
- Love Gun
- Tag teams and stables
- Dark Carnival
- Pit Crew - with Chad Fortune
See also
- Dale Torborg's event history