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Donald Jack "Don" Faulkner is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently working for Olympus Fighting Summit (Olympus-FS) as a freelancer.
Faulkner was the founder of Olympus Fighting Summit (OLYMPUS-FS), one of the first hybrid wrestling organizations in the world. During the 1990s, he was widely considered one of the best fighters in the world and was the second OLYMPUS-FS Heavyweight champion. Faulkner returned to regular professional wrestling in 2003, when he has become a perennial top contender for Oliver Thatcher, his career-long rival.
Early Career:[]
Don Faulkner competed as an amateur wrestler, where he was a four-time All American, finishing 6th as a freshman, 5th as a sophomore, 3rd as a junior and 2nd as a senior. His senior year he lost in the finals of an NCAA tournament. With an interest already in professional wrestling, he'd make the transition through the Washington territories in 1992. He would also practicing the Russian martial-art Sambo and would accomplish his black belt, which would benefit his wrestling career.
Art of Wrestling & Pro Wrestling: United:[]
His first 2 years in wrestling would quickly establish Faulkner as a top-tier wrestler in the Washington area and quickly rose through the ranks of the American territories. He was asked to take part in a tour of Japan in 1994 pairing with Oliver Thatcher in several tag team matches. The two would see a lot of similarities in the other and decided to become rivals, however, they would not have a single match with one another. That was until 1999, when following his departure from the Art of Wrestling promotion, Oliver Thatcher would ask for Faulkner's assistance in forming a new promotion that was heavily centred around a hard-hitting wrestling style. The promotion would be called Pro-Wrestling: UNITED (bringing together the United States and United Kingdom) and the first card saw Faulkner vs Thatcher for the first time in the main event. The 45-minute match (won by Oliver Thatcher) would go on to win the match of the year award from the International Wrestling Newsletter. The promotion would close down 3 years later due to financial issues and they saw their final card main evented with another Match of the Year award winner in Faulkner vs Thatcher II, won again by Oliver Thatcher. Oliver would decide to enter semi-retirement until 2004, while Faulkner would return to the United States, often returning to Japan during their bigger scheduled tours.
in 2010, Faulkner was given the task of training MMA fighter Shaun Kasiano to transition to professional wrestling. Impressed by his progress in such a short time, Faulkner deemed him ready to compete later that year. The two would grow to have a father and son style relationship, despite the age gap between them not being too far apart.
Personal Life:[]
Don Faulkner currently resides in Dallas, Texas. He has three children, including his eldest son Donald Faulkner II from his first marriage and his youngest son Roger Faulkner and daughter Astrid Faulkner with his current wife, Angie.
In July of 2011, Faulkner suffered a stroke during an AOW house show tag team match. Officials and ringside doctors immediately rushed to Faulkner after he fell off the apron and the match was called off as they rushed Faulkner to a local hospital. Reports later were released that he suffered a Haemorrhagic stroke which including bleeding in the brain. He would be released from the hospital several days later and was cleared to compete after a week.
in September 2013, Faulkner went into cardiac arrest during a wrestling match after taking a scoop slam by Jack Billings. He was given CPR and was rushed to the hospital where he underwent an angioplasty to improve blood flow to his heart. After two days he was able to blink, nod, and squeeze with his hands. Later reported results of several CT scans showed signs of brain damage. During his stay, it was determined that the shock to his spine caused the cardiac arrest. He would be released after 9 days in the hospital and was cleared to compete 4 days later.
In-Wrestling:[]
- Finishing Moves:
- American Screwdriver (Scoop Brainbuster) - 2000 - present
- Bomb Scare (Jumping knee drop, sometimes from the top rope)
- Death Clutch I (Crossface) - 1995 - present
- Death Clutch II (STF) - 1997 - present; innovated
- Death Clutch III (Arm Trap Cross-Legged STF) - 2007 - present; innovated
- Signature Moves:
- American Lancer (Sliding forearm smash)
- Double underhook DDT
- Diving leg drop
- German suplex
- Folding powerbomb
- Nicknames:
- The (American) Bruiser
- Big Boss
- Entrance Music:
- "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins
- "You've got Another Thing Comin'" by Judas Priest
- "I Love It Loud" by Kiss feat. Eric Carr & Vinnie Vincent
Championships & Other Accomplishments:[]
- Pro Wrestling: United:
Faulkner as the inaugural Olympus-FS Heavyweight Champion & PWU World Champion.
- PWU Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Japanese Wrestling Council:
- J1 Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- J1 Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Oliver Thatcher
- Olympus Fighting Summit:
- Olympus-FS Heavyweight Championship (3 time)
- Texas State Wrestling:
- TSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Washington Regional Wrestling:
- WRW Heavyweight Championship (2 time)
- Alpha-1 Shoot Style Wrestling:
- Alpha-1 Heavyweight Championship (2 time)
- Alpha-1 Heavyweight Championship Kumite (2005)
