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Mark Jindrak
Jindrak (as Marco Corleone) in September 2006.
Birth nameMark Robert Jindrak
Born (1977-06-26) June 26, 1977 (age 47)
Throop, New York[1]
Alma materKeuka College[1]
Spouse(s)
Miroslava Luna
​
(m. 2015)​
Children2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Marco Corleone
Mark Jindrak
Sodom
Basket Case
Billed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[2]
Billed weight266 lb (121 kg)[2]
Billed fromAuburn, New York[2]
Trained byPaul Orndorff[1]
DebutMarch 2, 1999[3]
RetiredMarch 23, 2018

Mark Robert Jindrak (born June 26, 1977) is a former American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under his own name and for his appearances with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under the ring name Marco Corleone. He is a former CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, CMLL World Trios Champion, and WCW World Tag Team Champion.[2]

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)

Jindrak trained in the WCW Power Plant under Paul Orndorff.[1][4] He made his WCW debut on the March 2, 1999, taping of WCW Saturday Night, teaming with Chuck Palumbo as "The Soul Surfers" in a loss to Disorderly Conduct.[3] He was promoted to the main WCW roster in June 2000 under the Vince Russo era where he formed a tag team with fellow Power Plant graduate Sean O'Haire. In August 2000, Jindrak and O'Haire helped form The Natural Born Thrillers with Mike Sanders, Shawn Stasiak, Chuck Palumbo, Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, and Reno.[4] They were briefly "coached" by Kevin Nash.[4] In September 2000, Jindrak won the World Tag Team Championship with O'Haire for the first time, despite being relatively new in the business. The pair won the World Tag Team Championship once more before splitting in early January 2001 when Jindrak would begin teaming with Stasiak instead. The team was short-lived, as Stasiak went on to pick up the managerial service of Stacy Keibler and Jindrak was taken off of television.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

The Alliance and teaming with Garrison Cade (2001–2004)

After the World Wrestling Federation purchased WCW in March 2001, Jindrak came into the company in July 2001 as part of The Alliance that invaded the WWF roster. Jindrak wrestled in dark matches and at house shows throughout July. His first televised debut was on the July 28, 2001, episode of WWF Jakked/Metal, defeating Jerry Lynn. In late August of that year Mark Jindrak was sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association. There he was a member of Team WCW along with Mike Sanders, Johnny The Bull, Reno, Jason Jett, Lash LeRoux, Shannon Moore, Evan Karagias, Kwee Wee, Elix Skipper, and Jamie Knoble. In October 2001 Jindrak was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for training until March 2002 when he suffered a knee injury. Jindrak returned to OVW in July 2002. He also returned to WWE on the October 13, 2002, episode Sunday Night Heat defeating Justin Credible. He made a few more appearances on Heat in late 2002, defeating wrestlers such as Credible, Raven and Stevie Richards until suffering an ankle injury. Jindrak returned to OVW in March 2003 following his recovery and joined Kenny Bolin's "Bolin Services" stable and teamed with Garrison Cade while in OVW.

Jindrak was soon called up by WWE. Triple H would reveal on his 2013 Triple H - Thy Kingdom Come DVD that Jindrak was originally planned to be in Evolution alongside himself, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton. This claim was further confirmed by vignettes filmed that feature Jindrak with Evolution. However, for then-undisclosed reasons, his spot as the Arn Anderson-like enforcer of the group ended up going to Batista instead.[5] This would be elaborated on in 2020 in the Evolution episode of the WWE Network series Ruthless Aggression, when it was revealed that Vince McMahon wanted Jindrak in the group to replace Batista due to his triceps injuries in 2003. However, Triple H felt that while Jindrak had the talent, he lacked the maturity for the group and felt that he was dragging Randy Orton down. Jindrak, who made his first WWE programming appearance in 15 years in the interview, agreed with Triple H's assessment.[6]

After being pulled out of the Evolution angle, Jindrak joined the Raw brand on July 7, 2003, episode of Raw as a face against Chris Jericho in a losing effort. On the July 19 episode of Heat, Jindrak formed a tag team with Garrison Cade by defeating the World Tag Team Champions La Résistance in a non-title match, thus earning a title shot against La Résistance on the July 28 episode of Raw but failed to win the titles. They would become a staple in Raw's tag team division by feuding with La Résistance, Evolution and The Dudley Boyz over the tag team titles. At Armageddon, Jindrak and Cade participated in a tag team turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship and eliminated Rosey and The Hurricane and the team of Val Venis and Lance Storm before being eliminated by Dudley Boyz. On the March 1, 2004, episode of Raw, Jindrak and Cade defeated Rosey and The Hurricane to qualify for a fatal four-way match for the World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania XX, which they failed to win.

Teaming and feuding with Luther Reigns (2004–2005)

Jindrak at a WWE house show in January 2005.

Jindrak's team with Garrison Cade ended when Jindrak was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on March 22, 2004. He made his debut as a member of SmackDown on the March 27 episode of Velocity, during which he appeared as "The Reflection of Perfection", a narcissistic heel gimmick obsessed with his own physique, similar to Lex Luger's "Narcissist" character. He defeated Tyson Dux in his first match as part of the SmackDown! roster. On April 8, 2004, Jindrak gained Theodore Long's managerial services for a brief period until the pair split in July when Long turned face and became the general manager of SmackDown! while Jindrak remained on Velocity. Jindrak was initially pushed with an undefeated streak against the likes of Scotty 2 Hotty, Hardcore Holly, Shannon Moore, Spike Dudley, Orlando Jordan, Funaki and Billy Kidman during his first few months on the SmackDown! roster before suffering his first loss in three months against Charlie Haas on the July 3 episode of Velocity.

In September, Jindrak aligned himself with Kurt Angle and Luther Reigns to assist Angle in assaulting and shaving Big Show bald during the fifth anniversary episode of SmackDown!. Jindrak and Reigns continued to serve as Kurt Angle's proteges until February 2005, at which point they split from Angle to continue their own feud with The Undertaker. However, Jindrak and Reigns' team began to have a falling out, most notably after they lost to Undertaker in a "Double Jeopardy" handicap match on the February 24, 2005, episode of SmackDown! because of Jindrak submitting to a triangle choke. The following week, Jindrak and Reigns lost a Tag Team Championship match against Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Following the loss, Jindrak turned face by getting into a fight with Reigns and knocking him out with a left hook. On the March 10 episode of SmackDown!, Jindrak defeated Reigns in a singles match. After this, Jindrak became a low-card star who performed on Velocity and only appeared on SmackDown! to job against other wrestlers, during which he alternated between face and heel alignments. On the May 28 episode of Velocity, Jindrak unsuccessfully faced Orlando Jordan for the United States Championship. He then wrestled his last match on the SmackDown! brand on the June 18 episode of Velocity, which he lost to René Duprée. On June 30, Jindrak became one of the last-minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft, returning him back to the Raw brand. However, Jindrak never made his Raw re-debut, as he was released from his contract on July 5, 2005.[7]

Japan and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2006–2009)

Following his departure from WWE, Jindrak toured New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2006, where he was primarily used as a low-carder. He did, however, pick up a surprise win over long-time veteran Osamu Nishimura during the tour. Soon after, Jindrak began working for the Japanese promotion HUSTLE as "Sodom", teaming with Gomorrah.[8]

In late 2006, Jindrak began working for the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre under the name Marco Corleone. As a part of his new ring name, which he derived from The Godfather,[9] Corleone also accentuated his Italian American heritage as a part of his new gimmick, which included allying with fellow WCW and WWE alumnus Johnny Stamboli.[9] Initially a rudo (heel), Corleone turned into a technico (face) because of crowd support.[9] In 2008, it was announced that Jindrak had been officially banned from performing at wrestling shows in Tijuana, Mexico, for a year due to pulling down the tights of his opponent during a match.[10]

AAA and Perros del Mal (2009–2010)

On March 15, 2009, Jindrak, under his Marco Corleone ring name, made a surprise jump from CMLL to AAA, appearing as a surprise corner man for Vampiro during AAA's 2009 Rey de Reyes show. Corleone helped Vampiro win the match against AAA's top heel Konnan.[11] On June 13, 2009, at Triplemanía XVII Corleone teamed with Latin Lover against La Hermandad 187 (Nicho El Millonario and Joe Líder) in a match for the World Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. On March 22, 2010, AAA released Jindrak.[12] Corleone later stated that he had initially only signed a one-year contract with AAA and had declined to re-sign.[13] On April 11, 2010, Mexican promotion Perros del Mal announced that they had signed Jindrak, still using the ring name Marco Corleone, to a contract.[14]

Lucha Libre USA (2010–2012)

Corleone competed on MTV's lucha libre show, Lucha Libre USA. He became involved with the promotion shortly after leaving AAA in early 2010, and was involved in finding and signing wrestlers for the show.[13][15] On December 12, 2010, Corleone, Charly Malice and R. J. Brewer were defeated in a four-way elimination match by Lizmark, Jr., who became the inaugural Heavyweight Champion in the process. This episode aired on tape delay on October 1, 2011.[16] On October 3, 2012, Corleone unsuccessfully challenged in a three-way match for the LLUSA Heavyweight Championship losing to R. J. Brewer and the match also included Lizmark Jr.

Return to CMLL (2011–2018)

On December 10, 2011, CMLL announced that Corleone would return to the promotion on December 16 at CMLL's Sin Piedad show.[17] In his return match, Corleone, Máximo and Rush defeated Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas and Rey Bucanero in two straight falls.[18] After the event, the trio of Corleone, Rush and Máximo was given the name La Tercia Sensación,[19] which was later changed to El Bufete del Amor.[20] On February 19, 2012, El Bufete del Amor defeated Los Hijos del Averno (Averno, Ephesto and Mephisto) to win the World Trios Championship.[21] On August 24, 2012, Corleone was defeated by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the quarterfinal round of the Universal Championship Tournament. In the fall of 2012 El Bufete began a feud against the Mexican National Trios Champions Los Invasores (Volador Jr., Mr. Águila and Kraneo). The two teams fought several occasions with El Bufete's World Trios Championship on the line, while Los Invasores' Mexican National Trios Championship being passed over was compared to the more prestigious CMLL title.[22] Corleone was forced to team up with Kraneo for the 2013 Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles ("National Incredible Pairs Tournament"), a tag team tournament teaming up wrestlers who would never team up otherwise, often because they are rivals, would be forced to work together. The team lost to Shocker and Mr. Niebla in the opening round because of their inability to get along for only match.[23][24] In May, Corleone was sidelined with a knee injury, leading to CMLL stripping him, Máximo and Rush of the World Trios Championship.[25]

On August 2, 2013, Corleone returned from injury teaming with La Sombra and Rush defeating Averno, Mephisto and Volador Jr. in a two out of three falls match.[26] On September 16, 2014, Corleone and Rush defeated El Terrible and Rey Escorpión to win La Copa CMLL.[27] On December 7, Corleone was knocked unconscious during a match with El Terrible, after being hit on the back of the head by a ring rope. He regained consciousness shortly thereafter and was reportedly doing well.[28] On March 17, 2015, Los Ingobernables (Corleone and Rush) unsuccessfully challenged Negro Casas and Shocker in a two out of three falls match for the World Tag Team Championship.[29]

On June 6, 2017, Corleone defeated Euforia, Dragón Rojo Jr., El Terrible, Gran Guerrero, Kráneo, Mr. Niebla, Pierroth, Rey Bucanero and Rush in a torneo cibernetico elimination match to win the World Heavyweight Championship, the first singles title of his career.[30] On June 18, Corleone made his first successful title defense against El Terrible. On August 22, 2018, Corleone had to vacate the title due to an injury and thus confirmed his departure from CMLL.[31] Jindrak wrestled his final match to date on March 23, 2018.[32]

Other media

Jindrak has appeared on several Mexican game shows, soap operas, television shows and magazine covers.[9] He was also named "Best Body in Mexico".[9] In 2012, Jindrak starred in the Mexican telenovela Porque el amor manda as Ury Petrovsky.[33] Jindrak tried out for the film Remember the Titans, and was offered a role as a football player. As he was in training at the WCW Power Plant at the time however, he turned the role down.[34]

Jindrak wrote a book in Spanish entitled Marco Corleone: las primera luchas de mi vida (Marco Corleone: the first fights of my life) for children, to help them cope with bullying in schools.[9]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005 MTV's The 70s House Himself Season 1, Episode 3
2010 Sábado Gigante Himself
2012–13 Porque el amor manda Ury Petrovsky
2013 Noches con Platanito Himself
2014–15 Mi corazón es tuyo Mike
2017 La doble vida de Estela Carrillo Asdrúbal
2017 Como dice el dicho Season 7, Episode 55

Personal life

Jindrak has a degree in marketing.[35][1] He also played basketball for the Keuka College's Storm in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.[4] Jindrak has the highest vertical leap in WWE history, and his personal best is over 42 inches (110 cm).[34]

His father is of German descent and his mother is of Italian descent.[9] On November 3, 2015, Jindrak announced that he married Mexican fashion designer and model Miroslava Luna.[36] Jindrak resides in Mexico with his wife and son.[9]

In July 2016, Jindrak was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[37] The case was dismissed by US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.[38]

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

See also: Luchas de apuestas
Winner (wager) Loser (wager) Location Event Date Notes
Shocker and Universo 2000 (hair) Marco Corelone and Kenzo Suzuki (hair) Mexico City Sin Piedad December 15, 2006 [46]
Marco Corleone (hair) Universo 2000 (hair) Mexico City, Mexico Homenaje a Dos Leyendas March 30, 2007  
Marco Corleone (hair) Lizmark Jr. (hair) Mexico City CMLL show October 17, 2008  

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "From Mark to Marco: Auburn-area native a pro wrestling sex symbol in Mexico". The Citizen. Lee Enterprises. December 31, 2017. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Mark Jindrak". WWE.com (via Wayback Machine). WWE. Archived from the original on October 16, 2004. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Philip Kreikenbohm. "Marco Corleone - Matches". Cagematch.net. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Varsallone, Jim (July 23, 2010). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  5. ^ "Photo: Who Was Supposed To Take Batista's Spot In Evolution? - WrestlingInc.com".
  6. ^ WWE Ruthless Aggression: Evolution (February 24, 2020)
  7. ^ "WWE releases several Superstars". World Wrestling Entertainment. July 8, 2005. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  8. ^ Buck Woodward; Ryan Martinez (April 20, 2011). "This day in history: Rick Rude passes away, Hogan wins his fourth WCW Title, two girls for every Dreamer and more". PWInsider.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Varsallone, Jim (July 23, 2010). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  10. ^ D-rock (August 6, 2008). "Wrestling News Center: Mark Jindrak Banned From Tijuana For Pulling The Tights".
  11. ^ "Resultados de Rey de Reyes-AAA (16 marzo 2008) Elecktroshock nuevo Rey de Reyes. Juventud Guerrera y Marco Corleone las sorpresas. Wagner se presenta en AAA para retar al Mesías" (in Spanish). SuperLucha.net. March 15, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  12. ^ "Marco Corleone liberado" (in Spanish). Lucha Libre AAA World Wide. March 22, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  13. ^ a b Varsallone, Jim (July 14, 2010). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  14. ^ "Latin Lover será un Perro del Mal" (in Spanish). Record.com.mx. April 11, 2010. Archived from the original on April 15, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  15. ^ Varsallone, Jim (July 14, 2010). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  16. ^ Roberts, Alex (December 13, 2010). "12/12 Lucha Libre USA TV taping: Spoiler results for season premiere of MTV2 wrestling show - former TNA wrestler debuts, first Hvt. champion crowned". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  17. ^ Mexicool, Rey (December 10, 2011). "Cartel completo de Sin Piedad – Se presenta Marco Corleone en el CMLL". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  18. ^ Huerta, Diego (December 18, 2011). "Marco Corleone 'vuelve a volar' en la Arena México". Récord (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  19. ^ Salazar López, Alexis A. "Viernes 23 de Diciembre '11". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 19, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  20. ^ "El Bufete del Amor busca seguir triunfando". Medio Tiempo (in Spanish). January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  21. ^ a b Huerta, Diego (February 19, 2012). "Corleone, Rush y Máximo, nuevos Campeones Mundiales de Tríos CMLL". Récord (in Spanish). Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  22. ^ "Sigue reinando el Buffet del Amor en el CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). February 18, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  23. ^ "Volador y la Sombra a la Final del Torneo de Parejas Increíbles". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  24. ^ Salazar López, Alexis A. (March 1, 2013). "Atlantis y Último Guerrero ¿Estaremos frente a un duelo candidato para conmemorar el 80 Aniversario del CMLL?". Estrellas del Ring (in Spanish). Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  25. ^ Boutwell, Josh (May 11, 2013). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly for 5/11/13". WrestleView. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  26. ^ "CMLL on Televisa « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  27. ^ a b Zamora, Antonio (September 16, 2014). "Rush y Marco Corleone ganan la Copa CMLL en la Arena Puebla". Periódico Enfoque (in Spanish). Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  28. ^ "Marco Corleone se desvaneció en la Arena Coliseo". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  29. ^ "CMLL Guerreros del Ring « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  30. ^ a b "Marco Corleone es el nuevo campeón completo del CMLL" [Marco Corleone is the new heavyweight champion of CMLL]. MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  31. ^ Solowrestling (August 22, 2018). "Marco Corleone abandona CMLL y deja vacante su Campeonato mundial peso pesado". www.solowrestling.com.
  32. ^ Philip Kreikenbohm. "Marco Corleone - Matches". Cagematch.net. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  33. ^ "Marco Corleone, el luchador que amenaza a Fernando Colunga". People en Español.
  34. ^ a b Varsallone, Jim (July 23, 2010). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 4. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  35. ^ Varsallone, Jim (July 14, 2010). "Former WWE star resurrected with Corleone character in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  36. ^ "More Details On Nikki Bella Injury, Former WWE Star / CMLL Star Married". Wrestlezone. November 3, 2015.
  37. ^ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  38. ^ Robinson, Byron (September 22, 2018). "Piledriver: WWE uses 'Hell in a Cell' as springboard to future shows". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  39. ^ Zellner, Kris (July 13, 2016). "The Lucha Report". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  40. ^ "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". wrestlingdata.com.
  41. ^ "PWI ratings". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  42. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". www.purolove.com.
  43. ^ "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". wrestlingdata.com.
  44. ^ "Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database". wrestlingdata.com.
  45. ^ Varsallone, Jim (July 23, 2010). "Corleone character a big hit for Jindrak in Mexico". The Miami Herald. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
  46. ^ "December 2006 PPV "Sin Piedad"". Pro Wrestling History. December 15, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
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