BIOGRAPHY[]
Born Terrell Chandler Wartenbe in 1982, Terry has always had a natural athletic talent and a presence performing in front of others. So for him it was an easy choice to choose to be a professional wrestler.
CAREER[]
BACKYARD WRESTLING[]
Terry started performing in backyard shows in Southeastern Idaho at the age of 18. He showcased his abilities in front of as many as 25 people in a backyard or high school gym. He often performed as the heel in his matches, and credits his greatest match during that year as being a ladder match against Chaz Rydell(Spencer Hysell), who Terry accused of cheating on his girlfriend, Terry's sister(kayfabe) Sarena. The match lasted over 50 minutes in a main event, and the fans were liking the match so much they called friends to come see it. The crowd had tripled and was standing room only by the end of the match, which Terry actually lost when Sarena came ringside and cost him the match, hitting him in the back of the knee with a broom handle. This caused a double-turn where Terry turned face and Sarena turned heel to join her boyfriend, who she forgave, reminiscent of the Jericho/Christian/Trish Stratus angle. Shortly after, he turned 19 and left for Canada, but had one final match against Chaz, a 45-minute brawl that saw him break his left hand landing awkwardly from one of his trademark moves, the Springboard Elbow Smash. Mid-match he fought off Chaz while simutaneously taping his hand so he could keep going. He finished him off with the Courageous Cutter on top of a trash can for the win.
Federations[]
He turned pro at the age of 19. Like so many of his wrestling idols like Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit, he wanted to train in Stu Hart's dungeon. That didn't come to be, so he settled on the Furious Farm House, operated by Fury, who had connections to a very prestigious federation in Canada, the CCW(Canadian Championship Wrestling).
CCW[]
After a few months of actual training, Fury invited him to join the CCW roster. After dabbling in the lowercard for some time, he was released without any notable matches or feuds.
XWE[]
He joined a branch of the XWE, but was cut after a match against an opponent who botched many moves. Courageous was blamed for the low quality of the match, and was subsequently released and labeled with an attitude problem. No major promotion would touch him for awhile.
SCWF[]
He headed to England and joined the SCWF(Styles Clash Wrestling Federation) He stayed for a few months wrestling in the main event in the fledgling promotion, earning himself their Heavyweight Championship in a match against Rish-Pac, the first ever champion, for his first ever title. He lost the title a week later when he was made to submit(kayfabe). He had suffered a back injury during his win, and he went home to recover and did not renew his contract with the promotion. He made a special appearance where he (kayfabe) tore up his contract in front of the SCWF owner, Anthony Matsell. And that was the last time he was seen for months until...
DOAW[]
In the early stages of 2005, Terry had joined DOAW(Dead or Alive Wrestling) and wrestled under the name of Jerry Sinn in dark matches, marking the first time he hadn't used the name Terry Courageous. He joined Big J(Jared Fawcett) and formed the team eXtreme Pain. Big J and Terry defeated American Patriot and Stab to win the DOAW Tag Titles, only for them to be deemed unecessary by Mr. Jet. eXtreme Pain started their own singles careers.
Terry launched into a long feud with Johnny Kilhams for the Xtreme Championship, during that time he won a "Money in the Bank" match to earn a guaranteed shot at the DOAW Heavyweight Championship. He finally won the Xtreme Title at Extreme Evolution in a Triple Threat Triple Cage Match against Kilhams and fellow rookie Hysteria.
He joined up with co-owner Chyno's RED stable, which would counter-act against Mr. Jet and The Legion. He held the Extreme title a mere 3 weeks before losing it to Mickey Irish. He also lost his attempt to regain the gold in a Triple Threat IronMan Match.
He was missing from DOAW for a month until No Remorse where he attacked Mickey Irish and Hysteria after they both survived a brutal Glass House match. The potential finish to this great 3-man feud never came to be.
Terry won the Battle Royale at Unrelenting to gain a second guaranteed title shot, this time at the biggest DOAW PPV of them all. Immortal. He defeated both Stu and Chyno to win his first DOAW World Championship, and his 2nd World Title altogether. This also gave him the distinction of winning the signature matches at all three major DOAW PPVs. Overthrown, Unrelenting, and Immortal. In addition to having a guaranteed shot at his own title.
Over the course of his historic title reign, the longest in DOAW history (at the time), he was involved in many battles with his former RED teammate Chyno, and The Legion, most notably, the first ever Prison Fight Match with Hysteria in March of 2006.
He lost the DOAW World Championship to Hysteria at Retribution 2006. Then lost his resulting rematch which left him injured. He returned to the Hatred brand at No Remorse in 2006, helping Hatred owner M2J defeat Minority. He displayed signs of being a heel, but there wasn't room for him to go anywhere in that capacity. He once again found himself embroiled in a bitter feud against the Legion, most notably, Radikal, who he finally defeated in a Steelyard match for the United Kingdom Championship.
He lost the UK title at Forever Tainted, and then turned on his friend Anarchy the following week, claiming his rightful spot as the #1 Contender to Anarchy's World Heavyweight Championship defeating him at IneXorable. He had one controversial title defense against Stu, but Stu earned a rematch and won the title at Retribution.
Terry's heel run didn't last long as he didn't feel it was right for a rookie like John White to try and retire Anarchy, so Terry decided to help him. But the booking committee wanted White to win and push him towards the US title after that which Terry took exception to because they were going to book White to beat Courageous in a program as well before trying to change his character. He decided to opt out of the remainder of his contract in opposition of such a move. DOAW management wouldn't let him out of his contract or let him quit because it would be a breach. So both sides decided to let Terry stay at home until they could work something out. Negotiations went on for a couple of months before the need for Terry to return to the upper mid-card was needed. By this time, DOAW realized that John White wasn't as marketable as they thought and quickly came up with a different plan for him, and to bring Terry back into the fold. That plan was to have him go over John White, but to make him look good at it. A skill that Terry does better than anyone.
He was attacked by White at Last Resort after he refereed a winning match by White over DeVile. More attacks by White over the course of the month left Terry in the hospital[kayfabe] on two separate occasions. The 2nd time, Terry made the decision to bring in Dane Michaels his on-screen and real life cousin as his manager.
He went into Immortal V with the United Kingdom Championship to challenge John White and his United States title to determine who would hold both belts, united under a Transcontinental banner. Courageous overcame White and won the match. Continuing the feud at XeRo SaNiTy, he faced not only White, but Josh McCoy in a Last Man Standing Match, where Courageous had to keep both men down at the same time for a 10-count to win the match. That happened when McCoy inadvertantly hit White with a chair on the stage knocking him off through a table and then Courageous took out McCoy by tossing him off the stage and hitting the Courageous Crush which left both challengers on the ground for the 10-count.
The next week on Hatred, he teamed with former rival Mickey Irish, who a week earlier had a real-life altercation at Gillette Stadium during the 2008 AFC Championship Game with some drunken fans, but DOAW made it appear that it was against one another. But in that match, Irish turned against him and joined Radikal, Mr. Jet, and Hysteria in the Elements of Greatness.
That set up a match at Forever Tainted for Terry's Transcontinental Championship that Irish is holding hostage.
PERSONAL LIFE[]
Terry is currently engaged to Nicole White, but has been rumored to have been romantically linked with Ashley Angelo of DOAW at one point. Terry has denied the rumors countless times.
TITLE HISTORY[]
-SCWE World Heavyweight Champion (1 time-Rish-Pac)
-DOAW World Heavyweight Champion (4 times-Chyno; Anarchy; Stu; James Lidstrom)
-DOAW United States Champion (1 time-John White)
-DOAW United Kingdom Champion (2 times-Radikal; JJ Bailey)
-DOAW X-treme Champion (2 times-Johnny Kilhams; Anarchy)
-DOAW Tag Team Champion (3 times w/Big J; w/Radikal; w/Sean Swift)
-DOAW Transcontinental Champion-unified US and UK titles (3 times-John White; Hugo; Anarchy)
Notable Highlights[]
1st Man in DOAW to have two guaranteed World title shots
Undefeated at Immortal (6-0-Chyno, Radikal, John White, Elements of Greatness, Anarchy, Hysteria)