Gary Wolf returned to ECW, making his debut as a singles competitor at Holiday Hell on December 26, 1993 under the ring nameThe Pitbull, where he lost to Chad Austin in his debut match. However, Pitbull attacked Austin and The Sandman, with the assistance of Jason, thus forming an alliance with Jason and established himself as a villain in the process.[5] He aligned himself with Rockin' Rebel and the two faced Sandman and Tommy Cairo in a dog collar match in a losing effort at The Night the Line Was Crossed on February 5, 1994.[6] On the April 19 episode of Hardcore TV, Pitbull defeated J.T. Smith to capture the ECW Television Championship when Smith was attacked by The Public Enemy before the match.[7] Pitbull began a rivalry with The Tazmaniac after Tazmaniac was named the number one contender to his newly won Television Championship. On the May 17 episode of Hardcore TV, Pitbull lost the title to Mikey Whipwreck after a distraction by Tazmaniac.[8] This led to a lengthy rivalry between Pitbull and Tazmaniac, beginning at When Worlds Collide, where Pitbull defeated Tazmaniac in their first match.[9]
On the June 7 episode of Hardcore TV, it was announced that Pitbull would face Tazmaniac in a dog collar match at Hostile City Showdown,[10] which Tazmaniac won. After the match, Pitbull #2 made his ECW debut and joined Pitbull in attacking Tazmaniac and thus formed The Pitbulls for the first time on ECW television.[11] Pitbulls competed as a team for the first time in ECW at Heat Wave, where they lost to Tazmaniac and Sabu.[12] On the July 26 episode of Hardcore TV, Pitbulls attacked their tag team partner Jimmy Snuka after they lost a match to Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr. This led to Tazmaniac making the save, leading to a match between Pitbulls and the team of Snuka and Tazmaniac at Hardcore Heaven, which Pitbulls lost, thus ending the feud.[13][14] Pitbulls defeated The Bad Breed (Axl Rotten and Ian Rotten) in a match at November to Remember and lost a handicap match to 911 at Holiday Hell.[15][16]
Francine would become the manager of Pitbulls. Pitbulls began feuding with Jason's next tag team The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) after Jason confronted Francine.[24] The two teams traded wins with each other at November to Remember and December to Dismember.[25][26] At the 1996 CyberSlam event, Francine and the Pitbulls defeated Stevie Richards and Eliminators in a dog collar match. After the match, Eliminators attacked Pitbulls.[27] Pitbulls challenged Eliminators for the World Tag Team Championship at Big Ass Extreme Bash on March 8, but failed to win the titles, thus ending the feud.[28]
At Heat Wave, Shane Douglas broke Wolfe's neck by hitting him with a DDT on the ECW World Television Championship. Later in the match, Francine turned on Pitbulls and helped Douglas in winning the ECW World Television Championship.[29] This resulted in a lengthy feud between Douglas and Gary Wolfe's partner, Anthony Durante, while Wolfe recovered from his injury. Gary Wolfe can be seen on Forever Hardcore, where he talked about how he broke his neck. Wolfe was sidelined for the rest of the year, recovering from his injuries. A tribute show in support of Wolfe, Requiem for a Pitbull, was held in August 1996. Pitbull #1 returned to in-ring competition at the House Party in January 1997, where he challenged Douglas for the World Television Championship but Douglas retained the title via count-out.[30] He received another title shot against Douglas in an "I Quit" match at Hostile City Showdown on March 15, where Douglas retained, thanks to interference by Francine.[31] Pitbulls would lose the feud against The Triple Threat (Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido) and then took a hiatus in July.
Pitbulls returned to ECW at As Good as it Gets, where they turned villains by aligning themselves with Lance Wright and confronting Taz, who attacked Pitbulls.[32] Pitbull #1 would take a managerial role for Pitbull #2, who feuded with Taz over the World Television Championship but failed to win the title at November to Remember. Pitbulls made their last televised appearance in ECW on the December 20 episode of Hardcore TV, after which they left ECW.[33]
Wolfe appeared regularly for Tod Gordon's Pro Wrestling Unplugged promotion as 'The Pitbull' Gary Wolfe. He also made many appearances in Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW), during his time there winning both their World Heavyweight Championship (being first to do so), and their Tag Team Championship, with Mike Kruel. Wolfe appeared at WWE's ECW One Night Stand 2005 to introduce the "ECW Remembers" video honoring "extreme" wrestlers who had died. His own partner Anthony Durante, died on September 25, 2003, from a homemade OxyContin overdose.[37]
He has appeared in Pro Wrestling Unplugged, leading a group called Team PIT featuring wrestlers, Aramis and former Women's Champion, Annie Social. after PWU was sold to Atomic Championship Wrestling (ACW) Wolfe became one of the head trainers for the CZW Wrestling Academy replacing the late John Kronus. As a wrestling trainer Wolfe has helped trained many wrestlers. Notable graduates include The Wifebeater, Annie Social, and Johnny Kashmere.
Gary Wolfe previously co-hosted a wrestling radio show on the internet called False Count Radio.
Championships and accomplishments
Allied Powers Wrestling Federation
APWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Pitbull #2[38]
Ranked No. 80 of the 500 top wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996[46]
References
^Hunter, Jay (August 30, 2019). "Exposed! Pro Wrestling's Greatest Secrets – OSW Review 82" (Podcast). OSW Review. Event occurs at 12:50. Hunter: Brute Force! Not Ed Leslie, but a dirty chested frayed affair with a mini Thunderdome cage on his head...Pitbull Gary! Steve (V1): He is! He's Pitbull Gary! Steve (OOC): Wow.
