Bob Howard, better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is a professional wrestler currently working with Varsity Pro Wrestling, a U.K.-based promotion, as of 2011. Best known for his 15-plus years with the WWF/WWE, Holly rose to fame due to his dominance in the early years of the WWF/WWE's hardcore division.
Early Years
Holly trained under former WWF wrestler Stan Frazier in the mid-1980s, eventually debuting in Alabama's World Wrestling Organization, or WWO, in 1987. Known as "Superstar" Bob Holly, he went on to win the WWO tag team title before leaving for a brief stint with the National Wrestling Alliance, or NWA. Holly briefly worked as a jobber for the WWF in 1991. He eventually returned to the independent circuit, debuting in 1992 for Smoky Mountain Wrestling as "Hollywood" Bob Holly.
"Spark Plug" Bob Holly
Due to his success on the independent circuit, Holly was rehired by the WWF in 1994, making his debut on Jan. 11 of that year. No longer a jobber, Holly was promoted as a former NASCAR driver named Thurman "Sparky" Plugg. Over the course of his first year with the company, Holly was repackaged as Bob "Spark Plug" Holly and recorded his first wins against jobbers and established talent, eventually winning the WWF tag team championship with the 1-2-3 Kid at the Royal Rumble in 1995. Though their reign lasted only one day, Holly's success under the NASCAR gimmick continued through 1995. Holly received his first high-profile win as a singles wrestler over Jeff Jarrett, then Intercontinental Champion, on May 7, 1995. As Jarrett's foot was on the ropes, however, this title win was not recognized by the WWF, with Jarrett successfully defending his title in a rematch later that night. Following this small push, Holly lost matches at the 1995 King of the Ring and Summerslam pay-per-views before being written out of on-air programming for most of 1996 and 1997.
The New Midnight Express and the J.O.B. Squad
Early in 1998, Holly dropped the NASCAR gimmick and teamed with Bart Gunn as The New Midnight Express. The duo won the NWA tag team championship while the belts were in the WWF, holding these titles from March 30 until April 14, 1998. The duo's successes lasted until that year's King of the Ring pay-per-view, where they unsuccessfully challenged for the WWF tag team chamionship before splitting up. In November 1998, Holly formed a faction called the Just Over Broke, or J.O.B. Squad, with Al Snow, 2 Cold Scorpio, Gillberg and The Blue Meanie. Referring to their low-card status and lack of on-air exposure, the J.O.B. Squad gimmick was an attempt to publicly criticize their relegation to jobber roles in the company. This faction was short-lived, however, with Gillberg written out of on-air storylines and The Blue Meanie and Scorpio released from their contracts in February 1999.
"Hardcore" Holly, the Holly Cousins and Injury
The Hardcore Championship was vacated in February 1999, leading to a match between top contenders Holly and Al Snow at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view on Feb. 14, 1999. The self-branded "Hardcore" Holly won the championship, officially ending the J.O.B. Squad and marking the start of Holly's hardcore wrestling career. Holly went on to win the title six more times between 1999 and 2002. Shortly after his first hardcore championship win, on-air cousin Crash Holly was introduced. With Crash, Holly would go on to win the tag team championship a second time on Oct. 18, 1999. The pair lost the championship on Nov. 2, 1999, leading to a hardcore feud between the two over the coming months. This lasted until April 2000, when Holly suffered a shoulder injury in a match against Kurt Angle. Holly underwent rehabilitation and returned in November 2000 with Molly Holly, a second on-air cousin, introduced shortly thereafter.
Tough Enough, ECW and Further Injuries
Holly suffered a second injury in late 2001, which led him to become a trainer for the second edition of the Tough Enough reality series. His return to the ring in 2002 was short-lived, with Holly suffering a potentially career-ending ruptured disk in his neck following a botched Brock Lesnar powerbomb on Sept. 12, 2002. Following surgery and a 13-month rehabilitation, Holly returned for a brief, high-profile feud with Lesnar in 2003-2004. Following unsuccessful challenges for both the tag team and WWE chamionships, Holly was once again relegated to low-card status. In November 2005, Holly suffered an elbow injury that nearly led to the amputation of his arm due to a serious staph infection. Holly recovered and returned to the WWE's ECW roster in 2006, where he was pushed to main-event status. Despite numerous challenges for the ECW world championship between 2006 and 2007, Holly failed to win the title. Holly underwent surgery on April 16, 2007 for further complications from his staph infection, missing five months before returning to the ring.
Tag Team Title, Departure from WWE and Varsity Pro Wrestling
Holly returned to the WWE's RAW brand on Sept. 24, 2007, beginning a respectful rivalry with Cody Rhodes. The two went on to form a tag team, eventually winning the championship for Holly's longest title reign in the WWE/WWF. Their reign lasted from Dec. 10, 2007 to June 29, 2008, when Rhodes turned on Holly in a 2-on-1 handicap match and won the titles with another partner. Following the title loss, Holly did not appear in WWE programming before being released from his contract on Jan. 16, 2009. Holly made his debut for Varsity Pro Wrestling, or VPW, the United Kingdom's major professional wrestling promotion, in May 2009. Still wrestling under his "Hardcore" gimmick, Holly took part in numerous hardcore-style matches during his first year with the company, often wrestling with other former WWF/WWE stars Billy Gunn and Road Dogg. Holly remains on VPW's active roster, as of April 2011, supplementing his in-ring work as a trainer for the VPW School of Excellence.
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