Ian Rotten

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Statistics
John Williams

Ring Names	Ian Rotten Johnny Lawler Zach Blades
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Born	June 1, 1969
	Baltimore, Maryland
Died:
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Resides	Louisville, Kentucky
Billed from	Newcastle upon Tyne
Trained by	Axl Rotten
Debut	August 10, 1990
Retired	December 7, 2007

John Williams is a American professional wrestler better known as Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in GWF, ECW, and his own IWA: Mid-South.

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Career

After becoming a fan of Dusty Rhodes and Superstar Billy Graham while growing up in Florida, John Williams began his career as Johnny Lawler, the kayfabe illegitimate son of Jerry "The King" Lawler. However, after heat from Jerry Lawler, and a short stint as hockey gimmick Zach Blades, Williams went to wrestle for Skandor Akbar in the Global Wrestling Federation. Akbar wasn't a fan of the Zach Blades gimmick, and after Brian Knighton suggested they become "brothers", they became Ian and Axl Rotten, the Bad Breed. The Bad Breed would go on to defeat the Texas Mustangs (Bobby Duncum, Jr. & Johnny Hawk) for the GWF Tag Team Championship in January 1993.

The Bad Breed entered Extreme Championship Wrestling together in 1993, and after feuding for a number of months, they lost a tag match against The Public Enemy, where the losing team could never team up again. This lead to what was probably ECW's bloodiest ever feud, during the first six months of 1995, where Ian and Axl Rotten engaged in a number of violent gimmick matches, culminating in a Taipei Death Match, which saw both men tape their fists, and then glue broken glass onto their taped fists.^[1]

Ian left ECW in late 1995 over pay disputes, and moved to Kentucky to be with his wife and started a wrestling hotline. Ian found that many fans were calling in to complain about the "old fashioned" style of wrestling they were seeing at the local USWA shows run by Jerry Lawler and Jeff Jarrett, and, realising there was a demand for the more violent ECW-style product, started the IWA Mid-South promotion in early 1997. Throughout the next ten years, Ian would be involved in many of the most violent matches that IWA Mid-South held, as well as wrestling for Combat Zone Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Unplugged, Chikara and many others, as well as making an appearance at the Hardcore Homecoming shows in 2005, including the Taipei Death 2 rematch against Axl Rotten.

Rotten wrestled his retirement match at IWA Mid-South's 499th event, against "his best trainee" Mickie Knuckles, in Plainfield, Indiana on December 7, 2007. However, he has since broke that retirement twice, wrestling for JCW and Combat Zone Wrestling.