STEVE BLACKMAN

One of the legitimate "tough guys" of the WWF is Steve Blackman, a 3rd Degree black belt in the martial art of Shotocon. Blackman originally wrestled in the WWF during the late 80s as a preliminary wrestler, but in 1989 he contracted malaria overseas and almost died as a result. The illness left him unable to return to wrestling for several years, but he did recover and was actually able to lean out as a result of the illness. In 1997 he returned to the WWF as a "fan" who jumped into the ring to assist Team USA against Team Canada (going into the Survivor Series). Blackman took the place of the injured Patriot on Team USA at the 'Series.

Blackman enjoyed a four-month unbeaten streak in the WWF before he lost to Jeff Jarrett in controversial fashion in March of 1998 on Raw. During his undefeated streak, he earned victories over Faarooq and Rocky Maivia among others. He has also enjoyed success teaming with Ken Shamrock, a man with a style very similar to that of Blackman's.

In the Summer of 1998, Blackman entered himself into the WWF's "Brawl for All" tournament. He defeated Marc Mero in the first round before injuring himself while training. Upon his return, Blackman ran into problems with of all people, his friends Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn. Blackman had been the peacekeeper between these two rivals for months, but tension began to build between Steve and Shamrock, and their friendship all but desolved in October of 1998 following a first-round Intercontinental title tournament match between the two on Raw. Shamrock won the match and would go on to win the title.

Blackman's problems would continue. First, his friend Dan Severn was injured in a match on Raw against Owen Hart. While "The Beast" was recovering, Blackman began a feud with Owen to avenge the injury. At the same time, Blackman had engaged in a feud with Jeff Jarrett following a match on Raw that saw Jarrett break his guitar over Blackman's head. Soon, the Blue Blazer returned to the WWF and also began interfering in Blackman's matches. During a one-on-one match on Raw between Steve and the Blazer, Blackman unmasked the Blazer to find Owen Hart underneath. Another week on Raw, Blackman had teamed in a match alongside Goldust, and during the match the Blazer again interfered and was unmasked, but this time Jeff Jarrett hid underneath. Blackman finally demanded a "Lion's Den Match" with Owen, and it took place in late 1998 with guest referee Dan Severn. To the surprise of everyone, Severn would turn on Blackman during this match. The attack led to a feud between the two, but the feud would end after Severn was released from the WWF.

As 1999 rolled around, Steve Blackman found his role in the WWF diminish greatly. In early February he began a feud with Droz after Droz had attacked WWF interviewer Kevin Kelly during a Raw segment. Blackman came to Kelly's aid, something that Droz didn't appreciate, and the battle was on. The two fought on several occasions including a Kendo Stick Match on Raw, a match that Blackman lost. Steve also challenged Hardcore Holly for the WWF Hardcore title, but lost that match as well thanks to Droz's interference.

In a surprising twist, Blackman began attacking the popular wrestlers of the WWF. It came to be known that he was doing these attacks for Vince and Shane McMahon, and so Blackman became known as the "Hired Assassin".

Today, Steve Blackman is still a force to be reckoned with in the WWF, and is even using the fact that he lacks charisma (by having it acknowledged openly on television) to help get himself over.

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