Ion Croitoru
Encyclopedia
Ion William Croitoru (born December 7, 1965) is a Canadian
former professional wrestler
of Romania
n descent. He was born and raised in Ontario
, Canada. To wrestling fans, Croitoru is better known by his ring name
s, Johnny K-9 and Bruiser Bedlam. He competed in several Canadian wrestling promotions, including Stampede Wrestling
, and later wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling
, Smoky Mountain Wrestling
, and the World Wrestling Federation
(WWF). He wrestled as a jobber
in the WWF, but he was booked to win titles in several other promotions.
Croitoru is also famous for his history of legal problems. He was a member of Satan's Choice, a biker gang
, and has also been convicted of assault
, trafficking
cocaine
and bomb
ing a police station. In 2005, Croitoru was arrested for the murder
of lawyer Lynn Gilbank and her husband Fred. After a lengthy investigation, the charges were dropped in June 2006 because of insufficient evidence. He worked as a security guard in Vancouver
, British Columbia
until being arrested in May 2009 for conspiracy to commit murder. On January 24, 2011, Croitoru was charged with first degree murder in connection with the 2008 execution of Jonathan Barber in Burnaby, British Columbia..
in 1984. Bruce Hart
gave Croitoru the ring name
Orhan Turgedan, The Terrible Turk, a name Croitoru only wrestled under for a short time after leaving the promotion. He continued to wrestle in Canadian independent promotions
, such as Grand Prix Wrestling
in the Maritimes
and Superstars of Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario
.
In 1985 Croitoru wrestled for the American Wrestling Association
(AWA), where he received a push
and was given a reign as AWA Southern Heavyweight champion. He defeated Jerry Lawler
to win the belt on August 16, but dropped it back to Lawler in a rematch on September 6. The following month, Croitoru joined the World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) as Johnny K-9, where he competed until 1989. Croitoru claims that he decided on this name while being arrested after a fight. He saw "K-9" written on a paddywagon and decided on the ring name. He worked as a jobber to the stars
, putting over such wrestlers as Pedro Morales
, Tito Santana
and Paul Orndorff
. He wrestled in many tag team
matches and formed a short-lived team with Barry O in 1986, but his biggest match in the WWF was a televised match against Hulk Hogan
. After leaving the WWF, he wrestled on a tour of Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling
; he later returned to Japan to compete for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
and Wrestle Association R
. In the late 1980s, Croitoru also worked as a promoter
along with Mike Kelly and Bob Clarke, operating the short-lived Canadian International Championship Wrestling in Hamilton, Ontario
.
(SMW) in 1994, where he was given the ring name Bruiser Bedlam. According to the storyline, he was brought in by manager
Jim Cornette
to help settle Cornette's feud
with Bob Armstrong
. Bedlam and Cornette combined for a victory in a two-on-one handicap match over Armstrong at SMW's Blue Grass Brawl II show on April 1. That year, he wrestled many tag team
and six-man matches while teaming with Cornette.
Bedlam was booked for one title reign with the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship
during his stint in SMW. The kayfabe
rules behind the title state that any wrestler winning five consecutive matches as champion would win $5,000 but be forced to vacate the title. He won a match against Mike Furnas on April 4, 1994 to win the title, and he defended it over the following month. Bedlam won his fifth match on May 2 with a victory over Anthony Michaels
, and the storyline saw him forced to give up the title. He went on to feud with Tracy Smothers
, and the two wrestled in a lengthy series of matches, including several Coalminer's glove matches, in which a glove is available for the wrestlers to use as a weapon. Later that year, Bedlam wrestled several matches against "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony
. The series consisted of several steel cage matches in which Bedlam put Anthony over.
defeated him in the final round. Bulba was pushed for a run with the belt, however, defeating Mickey Doyle on January 21, 1995 to win the vacant title. He held the championship for almost four months before dropping it to Marty Jannetty
.
As Johnny K-9, Croitoru returned to the WWF for one match when he was put over Gary Scott on January 23, 1995. He then competed briefly in Cleveland All Pro Wrestling, where he wrestled against Cactus Jack
in a booked loss on March 23. Croitoru also wrestled in Border City Wrestling
(BCW) and was pushed to win the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship
by defeating Scott D'Amore
on May 21, 1995. He held the title for a little over a month before dropping it back to D'Amore.
Once again using the ring name Bruiser Beldam, he wrestled for Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) for a short time in 1996. While there, he competed in a barbed wire baseball bat match against Ian Rotten
; Bedlam was booked for the victory in the match. He also wrestled New Jack
at ICW's Holiday Hell supercard in a match that ended in a double countout. He wrestled on World Championship Wrestling
's first annual Ilio DiPaolo
tribute show, teaming with Cowboy Johnson in a loss to Tony Parisi
and Dominic DeNucci
. In the late 1990s, Croitoru wrestled in Cambridge, Ontario
-based International Championship Wrestling. He feuded with Greg Valentine
, and the two wrestled in a series of matches. Bedlam won the ICW Heavyweight Championship from Valentine and used heel
tactics such as brass knuckles
to defend the belt.
Croitoru has also trained several wrestlers, including Pure Wrestling Association's Eddie Osbourne and Melissa Maughn
, who competes under the ring name 21st Century Fox.
chapter of the Satan's Choice motorcycle gang
. He was arrested for trafficking
cocaine
and served ten months in prison. Soon after, he was convicted of assault
and was given a sentence of seven months. He encountered more problems on December 15, 1996 when he and several friends from Satan's Choice were kicked out of a strip club
for wearing their gang's colors. To get revenge, Croitoru and his friends planned to blow up the strip club. They changed their minds, however, and decided to bomb the local police station instead. The bomb caused $133,000 in damages to the Sudbury, Ontario
police station and a nearby bank and injured a police officer. Croitoru and two friends were arrested and charged, but the trial did not begin until almost two years later.
While Croitoru was awaiting trial for the bombing, the Hamilton branch of Satan's Choice was shut down after an informant
gave the police information about the gang's involvement with drug dealing and extortion
. The gang's clubhouse was confiscated and the club's national leadership decided to disband the Hamilton chapter. Croitoru got in a fight in Hamilton with another former Satan's Choice member on January 13, 1998. A police officer saw Croitoru punch the other man in the face and arrested Croitoru for assault. In addition to the assault change, Croitoru was charged with extortion from an unrelated incident as well as carrying a concealed weapon and breaking the conditions of his release following the police station bombing. In September 1998, Croitoru was brought to trial for his role in the bombing. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in prison.
Hitman Ken Murdock, who was himself jailed in 1999, has claimed he was hired by the mafia to kill Croitoru but instead chose to spare his life.
with a shotgun. Police suspect that the murders were in response to Lynn Gilbank's assistance in getting William and Angie Smith into a witness protection
program after William Smith gave the police information about the Gravelle crime family. Croitoru, who had several contacts within the Gravelle family (including a contract to kill police inspector Rick Wills, who was investigating the Gravelles), was a suspect in the investigation and had his phones tapped
during the investigation.
After an investigation that lasted six years and cost $6 million, police laid charges against Croitoru and Andre Gravelle. Croitoru was charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of conspiracy
to commit murder. After spending seven months in prison, Croitoru was released on $100,000 bail
. He was arrested on December 2, 2005 for violating his bail terms, and police filed another extortion charge against him.
Evidence against Croitoru and Gravelle was presented over the course of eight weeks in 2006, but the judge stated that the case against the two accused was not strong. Ontario Attorney General
Michael Bryant
withdrew the charges on June 12, 2006. Following this action by the attorney general, both Croitoru and Andre Gravelle announced plans to file lawsuits against people involved with the prosecution. Gravelle is suing for $25 million, and Croitoru is seeking $15 million for wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution
. In June 2006, Croitoru also pled guilty to the charges of extortion and violating the terms of his bail. As a result, he was forced to forfeit $10,000 of the bail money.
gang. They were charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly plotting to kill the Bacon Brothers
and other members of the Red Scorpions
gang. On January 24, 2011, Croituro was charged with first degree murder in connection with the execution of Jonathan Barber and the attempted murder of Barber's girlfriend Vicky King, then 17, in Burnaby on 9 May 2008.
for the Kitchener Rangers
in the Ontario Hockey League
. He was not drafted to the National Hockey League
, however, and he decided to pursue professional wrestling instead. Croitoru is an accomplished weightlifter, and he once bench pressed 625 pounds. While awaiting his murder trial, Croitoru ran a home renovation business until he was unable to secure a bank loan to cover business expenses. After closing the business, Croitoru supported himself by working as a used car salesman.
Croitoru currently lives in Vancouver
, British Columbia
with his common-law wife
and his two young sons. He most recently worked as a bodyguard for Lion's Gate Entertainment, providing protection for such actors as Jack Nicholson
and Cyndi Lauper
. Croitoru also had a brief acting career, appearing in a movie titled Oklahoma Smugglers, in which he portrayed a wrestler, and such television shows as Reaper
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
former 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...
of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n descent. He was born and raised in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada. To wrestling fans, Croitoru is better known by his 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:...
s, Johnny K-9 and Bruiser Bedlam. He competed in several Canadian wrestling promotions, including Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
, and later wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
, Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
, and 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...
(WWF). He wrestled as a jobber
Job (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.The term...
in the WWF, but he was booked to win titles in several other promotions.
Croitoru is also famous for his history of legal problems. He was a member of Satan's Choice, a biker gang
Motorcycle club
A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles.In the U.S. the abbreviation, MC or MCC, can have a special social meaning from the point of view of the outlaw subcultures, and is usually reserved by them for those clubs that are mutually...
, and has also been convicted of assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, trafficking
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
ing a police station. In 2005, Croitoru was arrested for the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of lawyer Lynn Gilbank and her husband Fred. After a lengthy investigation, the charges were dropped in June 2006 because of insufficient evidence. He worked as a security guard in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
until being arrested in May 2009 for conspiracy to commit murder. On January 24, 2011, Croitoru was charged with first degree murder in connection with the 2008 execution of Jonathan Barber in Burnaby, British Columbia..
Early years
Croitoru trained with Nick DeCarlo and Vic Rossitini before debuting in Stampede WrestlingStampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
in 1984. Bruce Hart
Bruce Hart (wrestler)
Bruce Dennis Luis Hart is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. The second son of Stu Hart, Hart is a member of the large Hart wrestling family.Hart substitute teaches for the Calgary Board of Education.-Career:...
gave Croitoru 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:...
Orhan Turgedan, The Terrible Turk, a name Croitoru only wrestled under for a short time after leaving the promotion. He continued to wrestle in Canadian independent promotions
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
, such as Grand Prix Wrestling
Grand prix wrestling
Grand Prix Wrestling is a wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has currently stopped touring due to heavy traveling costs...
in the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
and Superstars of Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
.
In 1985 Croitoru wrestled for the American Wrestling Association
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
(AWA), where he received a push
Push (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a push is an attempt by the booker to make the wrestler win more matches and become more popular or more reviled with the fans depending on whether they are a heel or a face...
and was given a reign as AWA Southern Heavyweight champion. He defeated 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...
to win the belt on August 16, but dropped it back to Lawler in a rematch on September 6. The following month, Croitoru joined 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...
(WWF) as Johnny K-9, where he competed until 1989. Croitoru claims that he decided on this name while being arrested after a fight. He saw "K-9" written on a paddywagon and decided on the ring name. He worked as a jobber to the stars
Job (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.The term...
, putting over such wrestlers as Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s...
, Tito Santana
Tito Santana
Merced Solis better known by his ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler whose heyday spanned from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, though he continues to appear on the independent circuit. He is best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation...
and Paul Orndorff
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff, Jr. is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff...
. He wrestled in many tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
matches and formed a short-lived team with Barry O in 1986, but his biggest match in the WWF was a televised match against Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
. After leaving the WWF, he wrestled on a tour of Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling
New Japan Pro Wrestling
is a major professional wrestling promotion in Japan, founded by Antonio Inoki in June 1972 and owned by Yuke's since 2005, when Inoki sold the promotion. Naoki Sugabayashi is the current President of the promotion and has held that position from 2007. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it...
; he later returned to Japan to compete for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989 by Atsushi Onita that specialized in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their first show on October 6, 1989...
and Wrestle Association R
WAR (wrestling promotion)
Wrestle and Romance, and later Wrestle Association R, was a professional wrestling promotion founded and run by Genichiro Tenryu as the successor to Super World of Sports, and which lasted from 1992 to 2000. The promotion had very few regular contracted workers, instead most of the workers were...
. In the late 1980s, Croitoru also worked as a promoter
Promoter (entertainment)
An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
along with Mike Kelly and Bob Clarke, operating the short-lived Canadian International Championship Wrestling in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Croitoru joined Smoky Mountain WrestlingSmoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
(SMW) in 1994, where he was given the ring name Bruiser Bedlam. According to the storyline, he was brought in by manager
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...
Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
to help settle Cornette's feud
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 Bob Armstrong
Bob Armstrong
Joseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
. Bedlam and Cornette combined for a victory in a two-on-one handicap match over Armstrong at SMW's Blue Grass Brawl II show on April 1. That year, he wrestled many tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
and six-man matches while teaming with Cornette.
Bedlam was booked for one title reign with the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship
SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship
The SMW "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was the secondary singles championship for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. The title was created in 1992 and was active until SMW closed its doors on November 26, 1995. The storyline concept of the title was that the...
during his stint in SMW. The kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
rules behind the title state that any wrestler winning five consecutive matches as champion would win $5,000 but be forced to vacate the title. He won a match against Mike Furnas on April 4, 1994 to win the title, and he defended it over the following month. Bedlam won his fifth match on May 2 with a victory over Anthony Michaels
Anthony Michaels
Anthony Michaels is an American professional wrestler, also known as Snot Dudley and Tony Carlone. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling as a member of the Dudley family in the mid-1990s.-Career:...
, and the storyline saw him forced to give up the title. He went on to feud with Tracy Smothers
Tracy Smothers
Tracy Smothers is an American professional wrestler.-Early career:Tracy started his career in the Memphis promotion on Saturday morning TV. Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers started teaming as The Southern Boys in Florida Championship Wrestling in 1987 where they feuded with The New Breed...
, and the two wrestled in a lengthy series of matches, including several Coalminer's glove matches, in which a glove is available for the wrestlers to use as a weapon. Later that year, Bedlam wrestled several matches against "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony
Tony Anthony
Darrell W. "Tony" Anthony is a semi-retired American professional wrestler best known as Dirty White Boy, who wrestled primarily for independent promotions in the Southeastern United States...
. The series consisted of several steel cage matches in which Bedlam put Anthony over.
Later career
In 1994, Croitoru also began wrestling in Midwest Territory Wrestling, an independent promotion based in Michigan. He took on the ring name Taras Bulba and proclaimed himself "King of Chain matches". He competed in a tournament to determine the promotion's first heavyweight champion, but Al SnowAl Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
defeated him in the final round. Bulba was pushed for a run with the belt, however, defeating Mickey Doyle on January 21, 1995 to win the vacant title. He held the championship for almost four months before dropping it to Marty Jannetty
Marty Jannetty
Frederick Marty Jannetty is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as part of tag team The Rockers with partner Shawn Michaels, and later as a singles competitor. While in the WWF, he became a one time Intercontinental Champion and a one time...
.
As Johnny K-9, Croitoru returned to the WWF for one match when he was put over Gary Scott on January 23, 1995. He then competed briefly in Cleveland All Pro Wrestling, where he wrestled against Cactus Jack
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...
in a booked loss on March 23. Croitoru also wrestled in Border City Wrestling
Border City Wrestling
Border City Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion once based in Windsor, Ontario. It was the base promotion for several Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestlers, including all of the former Team Canada, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Many BCW employees were trained by Scott...
(BCW) and was pushed to win the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship
BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship
The BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship is the top title contested for in the Ontario-based professional wrestling promotion Border City Wrestling.-Title history:...
by defeating Scott D'Amore
Scott D'Amore
Scott Francis D'Amore is a Canadian professional wrestler, manager, promoter, booker and entrepreneur. He formerly managed Team Canada in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He was also the former head of the creative team...
on May 21, 1995. He held the title for a little over a month before dropping it back to D'Amore.
Once again using the ring name Bruiser Beldam, he wrestled for Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) for a short time in 1996. While there, he competed in a barbed wire baseball bat match against Ian Rotten
Ian Rotten
John Benson Williams is an American professional Wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in Global Wrestling Federation , Extreme Championship Wrestling , and his own wrestling promotion IWA: Mid-South.-Early career:After becoming a fan of Dusty Rhodes and "Superstar"...
; Bedlam was booked for the victory in the match. He also wrestled New Jack
New Jack
Jerome Young is an American professional wrestler, better known by his stage name New Jack in ECW.He is known for his willingness to take dangerous bumps and his stiff hardcore wrestling style, often taking high risks and "shooting" on opponents, though he is only known to shoot on opponents who...
at ICW's Holiday Hell supercard in a match that ended in a double countout. He wrestled on 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...
's first annual Ilio DiPaolo
Ilio DiPaolo
Ilio DiPaolo , was an Italian professional wrestler and restaurateur who lived in the Buffalo, New York area.-Professional wrestling career:...
tribute show, teaming with Cowboy Johnson in a loss to Tony Parisi
Antonio Pugliese
Antonio Pugliese , born in Cosenza, Italy, was a professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Tony Parisi. Pugliese was primarily a tag team wrestler, and he won tag team titles in several organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance , World Wide Wrestling Federation , and...
and Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.-Early career:...
. In the late 1990s, Croitoru wrestled in Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
-based International Championship Wrestling. He feuded with Greg Valentine
Greg Valentine
John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:...
, and the two wrestled in a series of matches. Bedlam won the ICW Heavyweight Championship from Valentine and used heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
tactics such as brass knuckles
Brass knuckles
Brass knuckles, also sometimes called knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, or knuckledusters, are weapons used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles are pieces of metal, usually steel despite their name, shaped to fit around the knuckles...
to defend the belt.
Croitoru has also trained several wrestlers, including Pure Wrestling Association's Eddie Osbourne and Melissa Maughn
Melissa Maughn
Melissa Maughn is a Canadian professional wrestler best known as her ring name 21st Century Fox.-Professional wrestling career:Maughn was originally trained by Sid Summers in Cambridge, Ontario.-Pure Wrestling Association:...
, who competes under the ring name 21st Century Fox.
Satan's Choice motorcycle gang
Croitoru has a history of run-ins with the police. Many of his legals problems came while he was president of the Hamilton, OntarioHamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
chapter of the Satan's Choice motorcycle gang
Motorcycle club
A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles.In the U.S. the abbreviation, MC or MCC, can have a special social meaning from the point of view of the outlaw subcultures, and is usually reserved by them for those clubs that are mutually...
. He was arrested for trafficking
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and served ten months in prison. Soon after, he was convicted of assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
and was given a sentence of seven months. He encountered more problems on December 15, 1996 when he and several friends from Satan's Choice were kicked out of a strip club
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
for wearing their gang's colors. To get revenge, Croitoru and his friends planned to blow up the strip club. They changed their minds, however, and decided to bomb the local police station instead. The bomb caused $133,000 in damages to the Sudbury, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
police station and a nearby bank and injured a police officer. Croitoru and two friends were arrested and charged, but the trial did not begin until almost two years later.
While Croitoru was awaiting trial for the bombing, the Hamilton branch of Satan's Choice was shut down after an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
gave the police information about the gang's involvement with drug dealing and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
. The gang's clubhouse was confiscated and the club's national leadership decided to disband the Hamilton chapter. Croitoru got in a fight in Hamilton with another former Satan's Choice member on January 13, 1998. A police officer saw Croitoru punch the other man in the face and arrested Croitoru for assault. In addition to the assault change, Croitoru was charged with extortion from an unrelated incident as well as carrying a concealed weapon and breaking the conditions of his release following the police station bombing. In September 1998, Croitoru was brought to trial for his role in the bombing. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in prison.
Hitman Ken Murdock, who was himself jailed in 1999, has claimed he was hired by the mafia to kill Croitoru but instead chose to spare his life.
Murder accusations
Croitoru's most famous encounter with the law occurred on January 6, 2005 when he was charged with the November 16, 1998 murders of Lynn and Fred Gilbank. The couple was shot execution-styleExecution-style murder
Execution-style murder, also known as Chicago-style murder, and execution-style killing are news media buzzwords applied to various acts of criminal murder where the perpetrator kills at close range a conscious victim who is under the complete physical control of the assailant and who has been left...
with a shotgun. Police suspect that the murders were in response to Lynn Gilbank's assistance in getting William and Angie Smith into a witness protection
Witness protection
Witness protection is protection of a threatened witness or any person involved in the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during and after a trial, usually by police...
program after William Smith gave the police information about the Gravelle crime family. Croitoru, who had several contacts within the Gravelle family (including a contract to kill police inspector Rick Wills, who was investigating the Gravelles), was a suspect in the investigation and had his phones tapped
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
during the investigation.
After an investigation that lasted six years and cost $6 million, police laid charges against Croitoru and Andre Gravelle. Croitoru was charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit murder. After spending seven months in prison, Croitoru was released on $100,000 bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. He was arrested on December 2, 2005 for violating his bail terms, and police filed another extortion charge against him.
Evidence against Croitoru and Gravelle was presented over the course of eight weeks in 2006, but the judge stated that the case against the two accused was not strong. Ontario Attorney General
Attorney General of Ontario
The Attorney General of Ontario is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario and governs the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario - the department responsible for the oversight of the justice system within the province. The Attorney General is an elected Member of Provincial...
Michael Bryant
Michael Bryant (politician)
Michael J. Bryant is former public administrator and former politician in Ontario, Canada. A Harvard-trained lawyer, he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the electoral district of St. Paul's for the Ontario Liberal Party from 1999 until 2009...
withdrew the charges on June 12, 2006. Following this action by the attorney general, both Croitoru and Andre Gravelle announced plans to file lawsuits against people involved with the prosecution. Gravelle is suing for $25 million, and Croitoru is seeking $15 million for wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort, while like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution...
. In June 2006, Croitoru also pled guilty to the charges of extortion and violating the terms of his bail. As a result, he was forced to forfeit $10,000 of the bail money.
United Nations gang
On May 15, 2009, Croitoru was arrested, along with seven other members of the United NationsUnited Nations (gang)
The United Nations Gang or Global United Nations Syndicate is a criminal gang active in the Vancouver, British Columbia area...
gang. They were charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly plotting to kill the Bacon Brothers
Bacon Brothers (gangsters)
The Bacon Brothers, Jonathan , Jarrod and Jamie Bacon, are a trio of alleged gangsters, suspected of multiple firearms and drug trafficking charges and implicated in a rash of homicides that have occurred in the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver area...
and other members of the Red Scorpions
Red Scorpions
The Red Scorpions are a gang based in British Columbia, Canada. Originally formed in a young offenders facility, they have been running “dial-a-dope lines” – in the suburbs of Vancouver since 2000...
gang. On January 24, 2011, Croituro was charged with first degree murder in connection with the execution of Jonathan Barber and the attempted murder of Barber's girlfriend Vicky King, then 17, in Burnaby on 9 May 2008.
Personal life
Before entering wrestling, Croitoru played junior hockeyJunior ice hockey
Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...
for the Kitchener Rangers
Kitchener Rangers
The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that have called Kitchener, Ontario, Canada their home since 1963. The Rangers are a publicly owned hockey team, governed by a 40-person Board of Directors made up of season ticket subscribers. The Rangers hosted...
in the Ontario Hockey League
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....
. He was not drafted to the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
, however, and he decided to pursue professional wrestling instead. Croitoru is an accomplished weightlifter, and he once bench pressed 625 pounds. While awaiting his murder trial, Croitoru ran a home renovation business until he was unable to secure a bank loan to cover business expenses. After closing the business, Croitoru supported himself by working as a used car salesman.
Croitoru currently lives in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
with his common-law wife
Common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage...
and his two young sons. He most recently worked as a bodyguard for Lion's Gate Entertainment, providing protection for such actors as Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
and Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
. Croitoru also had a brief acting career, appearing in a movie titled Oklahoma Smugglers, in which he portrayed a wrestler, and such television shows as Reaper
Reaper (TV series)
Reaper is an American television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.The series originally ran on the CW from September 25, 2007 to May 26, 2009....
.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Stomach claw
- Signature moves
- Diving headbutt
- PowerslamPowerslamA powerslam is a professional wrestling body slam move in which the wrestler performing the slam falls face-down on top of his/her opponent. The use of the term "powerslam" usually refers to the front powerslam and the scoop powerslam.-Emerald Flowsion:...
- Managers
- Handsome Johnny Bradford
- Jim CornetteJim CornetteJames Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
- Pandora
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling AssociationAmerican Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Border City WrestlingBorder City WrestlingBorder City Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion once based in Windsor, Ontario. It was the base promotion for several Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestlers, including all of the former Team Canada, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Many BCW employees were trained by Scott...
- BCW Can-Am Heavyweight ChampionshipBCW Can-Am Heavyweight ChampionshipThe BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship is the top title contested for in the Ontario-based professional wrestling promotion Border City Wrestling.-Title history:...
(1 time)
- BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship
- International Championship Wrestling (Cambridge, OntarioCambridge, OntarioCambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
)- ICW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Midwest Territorial Wrestling
- MTW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Smoky Mountain WrestlingSmoky Mountain WrestlingSmoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
- SMW Beat the Champ Television ChampionshipSMW Beat the Champ Television ChampionshipThe SMW "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was the secondary singles championship for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. The title was created in 1992 and was active until SMW closed its doors on November 26, 1995. The storyline concept of the title was that the...
(1 time)
- SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship