Scott Antol

Scott Antol
Ring name(s)	Kendo the Samurai[1][2] Scotty Anton[1][2] Scotty Riggs[1][2] Riggs[1][2] Scott Stud[1][2][3]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight	250 lb (110 kg)[2]
Born	March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01) (age 38)[1] Atlanta, Georgia[2]
Resides	Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Billed from	Atlanta, Georgia
Trained by	Ted Arcidi[2]
Debut	June 2, 1992[2]

Scott Antol^[2] (born March 1, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the ring names Scotty Riggs and Scotty Anton, respectively.^[1]

Professional wrestling career

Antol debuted on June 2, 1992 using the ring name "Scott Stud". In the early 1990s, he worked for various independent promotions, including the North Georgia Wrestling Association (a World Championship Wrestling developmental territory), Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and the United States Wrestling Association.

World Championship Wrestling (1995–1999)

Antol signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling in 1995 and was renamed "Scotty Riggs", the name Riggs being taken from the main character of the movie Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson. He was immediately placed in to a tag team with Marcus Alexander Bagwell and they became known as The American Males.^[1] Together, they captured the WCW World Tag Team Championship once, but only held it for eight days before losing it back to Harlem Heat, the team they won it from in the first place.^[4][5] The team broke up in November 1996 when Bagwell turned heel, attacking Riggs and joining the New World Order.^[6] After the breakup, the former partners feuded for a short while, with Bagwell usually coming out on top.^[7][8][9]

After bouncing around the mid-card for most of 1997, Raven took an interest in him in his next storyline. During a No Disqualification match on the October 27 edition of Nitro, Raven caught Riggs in a drop toe-hold, sending him face first into a steel chair and injuring his eye in the process.^[10] Riggs then began wearing an eye patch and to this day claims that the eye injury was legitimate.^[11] At first, Riggs resisted joining Raven's Flock,^[12] but eventually joined after they kidnapped him following his loss to Raven at the World War 3 pay-per-view.^[13][14] Raven explained that Riggs's "ocular disability" had alienated him from society and that he was seeking acceptance within The Flock. Riggs remained within The Flock until Perry Saturn defeated Raven at Fall Brawl: War Games in a match that forced the Flock to disband.

For the rest of 1998, Riggs again lurked around the mid-card before starting a narcissistic gimmick, constantly admiring his own physique.^[15] The gimmick was not particularly successful, and he was eventually released.

Extreme Championship Wrestling and Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (2000–2002)

In 2000, Antol debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as Scotty Anton, aligning with his real-life friend Rob Van Dam.^[1] At Hardcore Heaven, Anton betrayed Van Dam, knocking him off the top rope to the floor, allowing Jerry Lynn to pin him and thus end Van Dam's lengthy undefeated streak. From there, he joined The Network as a "hired gun". Van Dam gained revenge at Heat Wave, defeating Anton by debuting his Van Terminator.^[16] After ECW declared bankruptcy in April 2001, Antol returned to the independent circuit, where he found the greatest success of his entire career in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, as he became a three time Heavyweight Champion as well as a one time TCW Tag Team Champion with Erik Watts.^[17]

Post-wrestling (2002–2007)

After TCW folded in 2003, Antol took time away from professional wrestling to deal with personal issues of divorce and his father developing lung cancer. His father died from the illness in 2004. Along with these issues, Antol also suffered drug issues and other personal problems and he moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to begin assisting in a managerial role/security position for a lounge.^[2]

Return to wrestling (2007–present)

Upon getting his life together, Antol resumed his wrestling career and returned to wrestling under his "Scotty Riggs" ring name for numerous independent promotions, including AWA World-1 Championship Wrestling, CWA Pro Wrestling and Anarchy Championship Wrestling.^[18] Antol has also joined Entertainers That Care, a group that works alongside celebrities to help in fundraising events for many causes, and the Children's Miracle Network.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Bridging cradle suplex
  • Clap Trap (Cloverleaf leg laced Boston crab)^[1][2] – ECW; used as a regular move on the independent circuit

• Signature moves
  • Dropkick^[19]
  • Flying forearm smash^[1]
  • Leg drop bulldog
  • No Remorse (Chickenwing)^[1]
  • Slingshot crossbody^[19]

• Managers
  • Lodi
  • Raven

• Nicknames
  • "The American Male" (WCW)
  • "The U.S. Male" (ECW)
  • "The Dangerous One"
  • "Pretty Boy"
  • "The Clap" (ECW)

Championships and accomplishments

• CWA Pro Wrestling
  • CWA Television Championship (1 time)

• North Georgia Wrestling Association
  • NGWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Lee Thomas

• Peach State Wrestling
  • PSW United States Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #134 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1996

• Smoky Mountain Wrestling
  • SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship (1 time)^[20]

• Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
  • TCW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[17]
  • TCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Erik Watts^[17]

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marcus Bagwell^[1]

References

Professional wrestling portal