Dennis Knight
Encyclopedia
Dennis Knight is a retired American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 as Phineas I. Godwinn and Mideon.

Career

While working as a bouncer
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...

 in Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of...

, in 1989, Dennis Knight was introduced to Steve Keirn
Steve Keirn
Stephen "Steve" Paul Keirn is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for being part of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, with Stan Lane, and later for a run in the World Wrestling Federation as Skinner, a gimmick that portrayed him as a tobacco spitting alligator hunter from...

, who trained him as a professional wrestler. He debuted in the same year using the name Tex Slazenger, facing his stepfather in his first match. When Slazenger signed with the United States Wrestling Association
United States Wrestling Association
The United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.-Foundation:...

, he was given a Leatherface
Leatherface
Leatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...

 gimmick based on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre character complete with “bloodstained” apron, leather mask and chainsaw (without the chain). He was pushed as a “Monster” into a program with Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...

. During one infamous match between the two, Slazenger was set on fire. After dropping the Leatherface gimmick, Tex teamed up with Mark Canterbury
Mark Canterbury
Mark Canterbury is an American professional wrestler, best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Henry O. Godwinn.-Career:...

 who wrestled as the masked “Master Blaster”.

Slazenger was later hired by World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 alongside the Master Blaster who was renamed “Shanghai Pierce” The team was dubbed "The Texicans" by color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...

 Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...

. They remained with the promotion until 1994 without achieving much success.

When both men left WCW, Canterbury signed with the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 under the ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

 "Henry Godwinn" while Slazinger returned to the USWA. In the USWA, Slazinger captured the USWA Southern Title
AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
The Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship is a major professional wrestling title in the Memphis Wrestling promotion. The title is part of a long lineage that is best known while the title was named the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for Continental Wrestling Association during...

 on two occasions, defeating Brian Christopher
Brian Lawler
Brian Christopher Lawler is a professional wrestler. He is the son of color commentator and professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and brother of wrestling referee Kevin Christian...

 both times.

In 1996, Knight was reunited with Canterbury and renamed Phineas I. Godwinn when he signed with the WWF. The duo were portrayed as being cousins and were collectively known as The Godwinns
The Godwinns
The Godwinns was the best known gimmick of the professional wrestling tag team composed of Dennis Knight and Mark Canterbury that they used in the WWF. The team has used other gimmicks before they joined the WWF and had a gimmick change in the WWF shortly before disbanding...

. Over the following two years, The Godwinns held the WWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions. They were managed
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

 by Cletus Godwinn (Tony Anthony), Hillbilly Jim
Hillbilly Jim
Jim Morris , best known to fans as Hillbilly Jim, is an American professional wrestler and disc jockey. He was one of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular wrestlers of the mid-to-late 1980s.-Career:...

, and Sunny
Tammy Lynn Sytch
Tamara "Tammy" Lynn Sytch is an American professional wrestling manager, personality,and occasional wrestler. She achieved her greatest success under the ring name Sunny within the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s, and is widely considered as one of the first Divas...

.

In 1997, in a match between The Godwinns and the Legion of Doom
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...

, Canterbury suffered a cracked C7
Coccyx
The coccyx , commonly referred to as the tailbone, is the final segment of the vertebral column. Comprising three to five separate or fused vertebrae below the sacrum, it is attached to the sacrum by a fibrocartilaginous joint, the sacrococcygeal symphysis, which permits limited movement between...

 vertebra when the Legion of Doom botched
Botch (professional wrestling)
To botch in professional wrestling means to attempt a scripted move that does not come out as it was originally planned due to a mistake, miscalculation, or a slip-up. Most botches are harmless but embarrassing, such as a wrestler simply flubbing a line or missing a cue, or falling before his...

 a Doomsday Device
Doomsday Device
Doomsday Device, often shortened to Device, is a term used in professional wrestling to reference a tandem move in which one wrestler hoists the opponent on their shoulders so that they are facing in the same direction in what is known as the electric chair position, while another wrestler climbs...

. He was advised by doctors to rest for 15 weeks, but returned to the ring in less than eight weeks. Later that year, the Godwinns dropped their pig farmer gimmicks and became "Southern Justice", the bodyguards of Tennessee Lee
Robert Fuller
Robert Welch is a professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Robert Fuller and Col. Robert Parker. Robert and his brother Ron co-owned Continental Championship Wrestling for a time.-Career:...

. Six months later, Canterbury hernia
Hernia
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or the fascia of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it. A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach protrudes into the mediastinum through the esophageal opening in the diaphragm....

ted his C7 vertebra and pinched a spinal nerve, necessitating spinal fusion surgery. This came as a result of him returning to the ring too early after his neck injury. He eventually left the WWF and retired, due to the neck injury suffered in 1997 leaving Knight without a partner.

In late 1998, Knight returned to the WWF under his real name, and in relatively no time at all, was kidnapped by the Acolytes
Acolytes Protection Agency
The Acolytes Protection Agency , was a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Bradshaw and Faarooq. They wrestled for the American promotion World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment between October 1998 and March 2004....

 and brainwashed into joining the Ministry of Darkness
Ministry of Darkness
The Ministry of Darkness was a professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation during the WWF Attitude Era of the late 1990s...

, a heel Satanic
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

-themed stable led by The Undertaker, who rechristened him as the deranged soothsayer
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...

 "Midian" (spelling later changed to "Mideon"). Throughout 1999, The Ministry feuded
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 with Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...

, with Knight often teaming up with Viscera
Nelson Frazier, Jr.
Nelson Frazier, Jr. is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring names Mabel, Viscera, Big Daddy V, and King V. He is best known for his work with World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment...

. Knight "won" the European Championship
WWE European Championship
The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. A coveted singles title of the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was held by superstars such as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, and was...

 in this time when he found it in Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon
Shane Brandon McMahon is an American executive, currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of YOU On Demand. A former executive and professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment , he is the son of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and former US Senate candidate Linda...

's bag. When The Undertaker was injured in late 1999, the Ministry disbanded, however, Knight continued the gimmick and the unit with Viscera, including doing The Undertaker's biddings in matches well after The Ministry had dissolved, although no clear stable was ever established again. He also appeared briefly as a Mankind
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...

 imitator and teamed with Ivory
Lisa Moretti
Lisa Moretti is a retired American professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between 1999 and 2005 under the ring name Ivory...

 in intergender matches on Heat
WWE HEAT
WWE Heat was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...

.

Knight returned in a limited capacity in 2000 as Naked Mideon, a persona who ran around arenas wearing only a fanny pack
Fanny pack
A fanny pack , belt pack , belly bag , Buffalo pouch , hip sack , waist bag , hip pack , bum bag , cangurera , banano or moon bag is a small fabric pouch secured with a zipper and worn by use of a strap around the hips or...

, a pair of boots and a thong
G-string
A G-string is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men...

. At No Mercy 2000 he tried to reclaim the European Championship from William Regal
Darren Matthews
Darren Kenneth Matthews , is an English professional wrestler, author and color commentator currently signed to WWE and competing on the SmackDown brand under the ring name William Regal. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Steven Regal...

, but was defeated. Knight then wrestled in a few dark matches under his previous moniker Tex Slazenger, but was eventually released on good terms. At Armageddon 2000
Armageddon (2000)
Armageddon was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Federation that took place on December 10, 2000, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama. It was the second annual Armageddon event....

, Knight briefly interfered in the match between Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...

 and Kane, despite being released 2 months earlier.

Following his run with the WWE, Knight returned to his home in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

 and spent time training students at Steve Keirn's Pro Wrestling school. During this time he also continued to wrestle for several Florida independent promotons such as IPW and the FSPW, as well as touring Europe.

Knight appeared at the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

 event TNA Destination X 2005 on March 13, 2005 during the scheduled match between Monty Brown
Monty Brown
Monty Brown is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker, also known as Marcus Cor Von. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von...

 and Trytan
Ryan Wilson
Ryan Wilson is an American professional wrestler who formerly worked for World Wrestling Entertainment in the Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental promotion as Jacob Duncan where he was a former OVW Heavyweight Champion...

. In the course of the match, the lights went off and Trytan vanished from the ring. When the lights came on, a masked Knight was in his place and was quickly pinned by Brown. TNA never revealed on air who was under the mask. In March 2006, Knight wrestled several dark matches for World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 under his own name.

Personal life

Knight has an eyeball tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

ed on the back of his head and a tattoo of Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...

 on his left arm. He also has other tattoos on both of his arms including a rebel flag on his right arm.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Eye Opener / Slop Drop / Problem Solver (Inverted DDT)
    • Hangman's neckbreaker

  • Signature moves
    • Pumphandle hip toss followed by a knee drop
    • Snap DDT

  • With Henry O. Godwinn
    Mark Canterbury
    Mark Canterbury is an American professional wrestler, best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Henry O. Godwinn.-Career:...

    • Double Slop Drop (Double inverted DDT)

  • Managers
    Manager (professional wrestling)
    In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

    • Paul Bearer
      Percy Pringle
      William Alvin "Bill" Moody , better known by his ring name Paul Bearer, is a professional wrestling manager and former wrestler best known for his time in World Class Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, later known as the WWE.-Early career:He entered the wrestling business in...

    • Butterbean
      Eric Esch
      Eric Scott Esch is an American heavyweight boxer, kick-boxer, professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist commonly referred to as Butterbean....

    • Hillbilly Jim
      Hillbilly Jim
      Jim Morris , best known to fans as Hillbilly Jim, is an American professional wrestler and disc jockey. He was one of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular wrestlers of the mid-to-late 1980s.-Career:...

    • Tennessee Lee
      Robert Fuller
      Robert Welch is a professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Robert Fuller and Col. Robert Parker. Robert and his brother Ron co-owned Continental Championship Wrestling for a time.-Career:...

    • Ron Slinker
      Ron Slinker
      David Slinker , better known by his ring name, Ron Slinker, was an American professional wrestler and martial artist who competed in several North American promotions.-Early life:...

    • Sunny
      Tammy Lynn Sytch
      Tamara "Tammy" Lynn Sytch is an American professional wrestling manager, personality,and occasional wrestler. She achieved her greatest success under the ring name Sunny within the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s, and is widely considered as one of the first Divas...

    • Tojo Yamamoto
      Tojo Yamamoto
      Harold Watanabe was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto. He was born in Hawaii.-In-ring career:...

    • Vanessa Harding
      Vanessa Harding
      Leslie Culton better known by her ring name Vanessa Harding, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and manager who has competed in North American independent promotions throughout the early 2000s including Full Impact Pro, Future of Wrestling, the Heartland Wrestling Association, Ohio...


Championships and accomplishments

  • Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • CWF Tag Team Championship
    NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in Pro Wrestling Fusion. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and lasted until 1990 when it was abandoned. It was picked back up in 1997 by NWA Florida, where it was the primary...

     (1 time) - with Jumbo Baretta

  • Independent Professional Wrestling
  • IPW Hardcore Championship (1 time)

  • Future Stars of Pro Wrestling
  • FSPW Hardcore Championship (1 time)

  • United States Wrestling Association
    United States Wrestling Association
    The United States Wrestling Association or USWA was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded by former CWA owner Jerry Jarrett.-Foundation:...

  • USWA Heavyweight Championship
    AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
    The Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship is a major professional wrestling title in the Memphis Wrestling promotion. The title is part of a long lineage that is best known while the title was named the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for Continental Wrestling Association during...

     (2 times)

  • World Wrestling Federation
    World Wrestling Entertainment
    World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

  • WWF European Championship
    WWE European Championship
    The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. A coveted singles title of the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was held by superstars such as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, and was...

     (1 time)
  • WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Henry O. Godwinn
    Mark Canterbury
    Mark Canterbury is an American professional wrestler, best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Henry O. Godwinn.-Career:...


  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Worst Tag Team (1996, 1997) with Henry O. Godwinn
  • Worst Tag Team (1999) with Viscera
    Nelson Frazier, Jr.
    Nelson Frazier, Jr. is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring names Mabel, Viscera, Big Daddy V, and King V. He is best known for his work with World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment...

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