Kevin Crash

Kevin Shawn Connolly (born October 17, 1989), better known by his ring names Kevin (Shawn) Crash, is a semi-retired European professional wrestler, currently working exclusively on freelance contracts.

Connolly began his televised wrestling career with his own, small federation back in 2007, originally called Extreme Wrestling Society (EWS). The federation lived through the better end of one year, until Sports Entertainment Online (SEO) employed Connolly as an off-screen employee. His last match before switching onto the independent circuit was against his brother Danny Pyro. Afterwards, Connolly switched to a more private life, away from camera’s, allowing his fame to fade.

While in EWS, Connolly remained undefeated over the run of the brand. He held the EWS championship once, for a period of an exact 347 days. Many suspected him from abusing his power and cheating, but the championship matches were simply scheduled to Connolly’s likes. He would constantly invent new matchups to keep the crowd entertained, among which, Tables From Hell, Extreme Crowd Brawl and Ring of Fire.

Early years
Kevin was born in Aberdeen, minutes after his twin-brother Liam, as the son of a Scottish father and an English mother. Not only as a brother to Liam, but also to their older brother, Stephen, and their younger sister, Kimberley. Not long after their birth, the family moved back to Oxton, Nottinghamshire (England), where their mother originates from.

At the age of 10, both Kevin and Liam started developing a passion for wresting, watching World Wrestling Federation (now World Wresting Entertainment) on weekly basis and, despite all warnings, mimicing the moves they had seen on the television. Needless to say that this was not supported by their parents, though they didn't have much of a say about it. At the age of 15, both Kevin and Liam started training under the mentorship of their older brother, Stephen, who had been wrestling for several years.

After their training, it was Liam who rose to fame on the local wrestling roster, whilst Kevin developed a greater passion for music. Behind the scenes, Kevin was active in the management of the local wrestling company's junior division. This was a skill he took into managing his EWS federation.

It wasn't until his active participation for SEO that he had wrestled against... or even stood in the ring together with his own twin brother.

Extreme Wrestling Society
Kevin's very first chairmanship came from his own promotion, called EWS (short for Extreme Wrestling Society, later renamed to Entertainment Wrestling Society). He assigned two fellow members of the board to assist him in his diverse roles, yet ended up doing everything himself. To cut down the cost of the extra management, Kevin fired the board and took the minor remains of the tasks for his own account.

He wrote the storylines for the wrestlers as well as booked their matches weeks on beforehand. The entire promotion was televised, though Kevin himself rarely made any appearances on screen.

The most notorious match of them all was 'Tables from Hell', where the ring was filled with tables (four of them leaning against one turnbuckle each and one set up in the middle of the ring) and where the goal was for at least three tables to be broken under the bodies of the contestants in order for the contestants to become vulnerable to pin, knockout or submission.

Kevin later brought EWS back as an independent training circuit for new talent under SEO's banner. The major task being that only the ones doing an outstanding job (based on grades given by the board on their performances) were allowed to perform for SEO... though the idea soon appeared to be more paperwork rather than anything else. Behind Kevin's back, fresh talent was still directly recruited into SEO, much to the dismay of old-school superstars. As a consequence, they began moaning and complaining about the lack of training the newbies posessed. Kevin (who was at that time also co-manager of SEO, together with first informant, Stephen Dewolfe) stepped up against Sajid Patel, owner and chairman of SEO and threatened to detach EWS from SEO if this was all they had in store for the company. Sajid disregarded the threat, causing EWS to be detached from SEO, much to the owner's dislike. Kevin then made it clear that EWS would always be his promotion and that he could detach it anytime he desired. Unfortunatly enough for the EWS fans, Crash permanently buried the federation immediately after its detachment.

Sports Entertainment (SEO)
A few months after airing their first televised matches, Kevin was contacted by SEO to join their side as parttime wrestler and general manager for the Aggression-brand. Entering SEO in the late 2008, Kevin had to earn respect and work his way up to the top being both parttime wrestler and general manager,... a job he gave up after one week for having people disrespecting his job. In an interview with sports-magazine Sportaze, Kevin stated he "had not been given any opportunity to make it work". From day one his work was "critisized, then torn apart". Kevin stated that he "did well for the first match card, knowing of no rivalries or alliances between superstars, yet booking something most people would like... and without receiving any help, hints or advice from the board of the promotion".

He stayed in SEO for one year as he left shortly after winning the XOW Heavyweight championship, as did his brother Liam (under the gimmick Danny Pyro), from whom Kevin took the belt after winning their scheduled match.

After one year of absence from the federation, Kevin was asked by Sajid to return to SEO as it was in dire need of good managerial forces. Kevin agreed to Sajid's offer on the condition that he would receive ultimate power over the promotion and that he would be equalized to Sajid in title and role. Sajid agreed and let Kevin restart the project. The concept did not stand for long, as many old-school wrestlers did not like the idea of the new management. Due to the lack of support from Sajid in this matter, Kevin withdrew his services from the company yet again, this time causing it to collapse completely.

Out of utter desperation, Sajid approached Kevin once more. He mentioned in a press release and an open letter how strong he was feeling towards starting the project anew and, once again, boosting it to the very top. He revealed how he was hoping to call upon Kevin's help for his managerial skills yet again. Kevin declined the offer and stated that he would never return to help Sajid putting effort into something Sajid only seemingly wishes to destroy.

Even though a few superstars might disagree when asked about it, Kevin remains to this very day an unmentioned legend of SEO. Having accomplished little more, physically, than winning the XOW Heavyweight Championship, he engaged in epic storylines with SEO Legend "Uncle" Regret and King Mod (acquiring, then giving fame), formed a Tag-Team with Co-Founder and shareholder Raggy (boosted his fame), inducted the official SEO Legends into the Hall of Fame, managed the Aggression brand and he even became one of management's staff, then the federation's manager himself... all within the timespan of one year. He was, without a doubt, the fastest rising personality of his period.

Bond of Brothers
At the time where either Liam or Kevin joined SEO, superstars were unaware of them being brothers as they kept it a secret. Their looks didn't match (as they are non-identical twins) and they acted as if they didn't like each other one bit.

It wasn't until they both entered the Mini-Money In The Bank match that anyone discovered the truth behind Kevin Crash and Danny Pyro, (who were respectively billed from two different countries: Kevin Crash was billed from Belgium, while Danny Pyro was billed from England) as Kevin Crash dropkicked his former Tag-Team partner, King Mod, down the ladder.

This brought forth a lot of commotion among fans of Priceless Royalty, as the team of Kevin and Mod was called. Some considered it a heel-turn from Kevin Crash, others were left without an opinion... among which King Mod himself.

In an interview for the TV-show Sports Entertainment Weekly, Kevin revealed the reason for dropkicking Mod. "This has nothing to do with a heel-turn or a rivalry between two brands", Kevin said. "It has something to do with making clear statements, which can only be made by shocking people". That was all he wanted to say on the event.

Months later, however, he attended a press-conference for the new superstars on the Agression-roster. His brother, Danny, was mentoring a different newbie. Both men happened to be sitting at one long table with their 'trainees' next to them. Outside wrestling, Kevin and Danny have (despite the fact they are unidentical) some typical twin-like characteristics, which started showing when they were talking about their career and the newbies. A speech that went on for 5 minutes.

When questions were asked after the press-conference, Kevin received the question about the infamous dropkick once more. After hearing this question, both Danny and Kevin started laughing. Shortly after, he replied to the person asking: "Let's just say that the bond between brothers always was and always will be stronger than the bond between team-mates".

In a full interview for the sports teen magazine ' Sportaze' , Kevin revealed some more information about the brother-thing. "Me and Danny are indeed brothers in real life. It makes me happy to see that some of you are living in disbelief because you weren't expecting anything like this... which is good, as keeping it a secret was our main goal." he said. "There's more to it than us just being brothers. We're twin-brothers even! Unidentical in looks, yet identical in age, height, skills and even weight".

Kevin didn't get the chance to team up with his brother, but fought his final match (for SEO) against him. In this match he won the ' XOW Heavyweight Championship' . A title he gladly returned to the company when he left, only a few minutes after obtaining it. The belt itself, however, wasn't returned the way it was obtained: smashed to bits and pieces.

In the future...
For over two years, Kevin has not been wresting for any known promotions. Much like his brother Liam (aka Danny Pyro later on, he started using his real name Liam Connolly), he wresteled for smaller, low-paid promotions to boost their popularity a bit.

Rumours were spread about Kevin and Liam creating a family wrestling company so that, after all these years, they can team up once more to do what they love doing. One rumour explains them possibly returning under the company-name C², standing for Connolly Corporation. Another rumour explains them returning using C³ for company name, standing for Crash & Connolly Corporation. These among many other rumours have not been confirmed by either Kevin or Liam.

Kevin had a little break from wrestling, stating he wanted to try other challenges in life. He did not specifically mention what he would do in the future to replace wrestling with, but he did hint it would be something out of the spotlight for a while. A few months after making the decision, Kevin was asked to be a special guest on Peter Stiffley's "Breakfast Gossip". When Peter asked him about his current occuptaion, Kevin replied he was mainly focussing on a musical career as well as being a family man. At the end of the interview, Peter asked Kevin if he'd ever return to wrestling, to which Kevin replied: "It's difficult for me to plan anything fairly far ahead, because I'm living here and now. It will all depend on my feelings towards anything alike in the coming years and today's feeling's telling me I won't be making a comeback anytime soon."

Return to wrestling (2013)
On January the 5th 2013, a Canadian wrestling promotion decided to boost one of their superstars by putting him up against another one of their wrestlers Austin S. J. and his companion George de Bouronville de la Courcx (in short GBC). The story behind it being that Cassandra (then girlfriend, now ex of Kevin) was being attacked by these two heels and just in time, hero Pauley Steale jumps in to save her. In vain, as the two heels were far stronger than Steale. This was the setup for Kevin's minute in the limelight.

The arena went dark and the titantron switched to a video of a robed and hooded man entering a tomb at night, holding nothing other than a lantern. He descended to the very back, where he picked the bottom coffin from the stone frame it had been resting under. A feint music started playing in the arena. It was the remixed outro of November Rain by Guns 'n Roses. As the music got louder, the man in the video opened the coffin to find a dusy, golden key. The next scene showed the same man making his way to an abandoned factory. Inside, burning steel cans lit the place. One that is very grim as chains with hooks dangled from the roof. The man then stopped and kneeled down, holding up the golden key. A dark sinister person then got up from his throne and grabbed the key. The fire then revealed the face of Kevin, who was smirking at the camera. The screen then faded.

Immediately after that, the song Slash's solo started and the arena lit up. That's when Kevin appeared on stage under his new gimmick The Ringmaster. Dressed in a top hat, coat and shades with a dash of makeup and holding a long, coiled whip in his hand (though he would no longer use the whip in the future). After this, Kevin fought two more matches on Pauley's team against Austin and GBC, winning both bouts, yet disappearing shortly thereafter.

The Ringmaster Retuns (2013 - present)
Half a year after his appearance in Canada, Kevin decided to pick his career back up and returned to televised wrestling. Every single one of his fans being excited about the return of their favourite superstar, they tried getting tickets to the live show where he made his first televised appearance of the year. The long wait was well-rewarded as their icon returned in the Ringmaster outfit he used in Canada (excluding the whip) complete with the exact same titantron cutscene and music. Kevin had a match against Kodak that night and revealed a brand new moveset with some old features. He ended up winning the match.

The sweet taste of victory opened the doors to a new wrestling experience for Crash as he is still requested to appear on many shows to this very day. Still using his Ringmaster gimmick, he often changes his outfit to one of his earlier ones, just to bring a little bit of nostalgia to the bunch.

The Voice of Darkness (2014 - present)
After watching the Undertaker's streak being broken on the television, Crash decided to work with the material that was left over and decided to quickly adopt the gimmick of The Voice of Darkness. Dressing equally as occult-like and sinister as the Undertaker himself, Crash quickly gained the attention of many a wrestling fan, many of which stated that Crash was just a cheap ripoff of the Undertaker despite having his own moveset with minor similarities to the Phenom.

The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) quickly caught up on the hype and invited Crash over for a segment with the Undertaker. There the gimmick was explained as Darkness itself who had called for the Undertaker to return to the underworld. The Undertaker then stated that he was not to be commanded by the so called Voice of Darkness and that he would not return. Crash in turn replied that after Wrestlemania, the Undertaker's time had come. He was out of power and out of shape and that, no matter how much Undertaker would deny it, Darkness lives on whilst its minions slowly perish. An attempt of the Undertaker to chokeslam Crash was then blocked off by using the Undertaker's old ritual spell "Anail Nathrak, Dorthnei Diednei, Anail Nathrak, De Era Umbrana" showing to leech the Undertaker from his strength and leaving him vulnerable to the attacks of Crash. 

Injuries and temporary retirements
Kevin Crash had quite some injuries in his career. Some of these injuries forced him to go on temporary retirement. These are the injuries Crash has had so far:


 * 2 Injured Ribs
 * Received: In an Extreme Rules match.
 * Method: Used a leap from the turnbuckle to execute an Elbow Drop on an opponent who was lying on a ladder. The opponent rolled away, causing Kevin to smash side first into the steel ladder.
 * Consequence: 2 weeks without competition and denied from any ring participation.
 * Result: Temporary retirement
 * Date: 2008/12/10 - 2008/12/24


 * Injured leg
 * Received: In a Triple Threat match.
 * Method: Attempted to kick the opponent who was on the outside of the ring. The opponent dodged the kick, causing Crash to kick the turnbuckle at full force.
 * Consequence: 2 weeks without competition but allowed to attend matches.
 * Result: No retirement, but limited appearance
 * Date: 2009/03/15 - 2009/03/29


 * Severe damage to the skull and a broken arm.
 * Received: In a Hell in a Cell match.
 * Method: Thrown down from the Cell roof and landed head and shoulders first on the announce tables.
 * Consequence: 1-2 months of rest and recovery in the hospital.
 * Result: Temporary retirement
 * Date: 2009/08/19 - 08/10/2009

Championships and Accomplishments
/
 * The K.O. Masters


 * Extreme Wrestling Society
 * EWS Champion (season 3 and 4) undefeaten streak!
 * EWS Tag-Team Champions (season 2) with King Mod as Brothers of Demise.


 * SEO-XOW
 * XoW Heavyweight Championship (2 weeks as he left between the two PPV's)

Personal life
Kevin has two brothers and one sister, named Liam (twin brother), Stephen (older brother) and Kimberly (younger sister). All of which have appeared at least once in a televised wrestling match.

Kevin has two sons, Finn (born Finlay Conolly) and Zach (born Zachary Conolly), from his relationship with the SEO manager and UK diva Michelle Hasselberg before breaking up. After that, he engaged in a relationship with the Canadian writer Cass N. C., though that ended in the summer of 2013. Insiders reported that he's currently seeing Michelle Hasselberg again and it was confirmed that they now also have a daughter together, named Lily (born Lilianne Conolly). Insiders also claim that Michelle is expecting a fourth child from Crash. She has recently not made any public appearances, which makes it hard to determine if the claims are true.

Kevin's favourite occupations outside wrestling are music (even composing and performing) and gaming. His favourite game is Mortal Kombat 9 (a.k.a Mortal Kombat 2011) and among the names in the list of his favourite musical performers we find Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Army of Lovers, Modern Talking, Kate Bush and many others.

As of late, he joined an Army of Lovers tribute band, named Newfound Sound, serving as the keyboardist, musical editor and even doing some vocal work. He's also active as a solo artist, performing various pop- and rock themed songs.

In Wrestling
As  Kevin ' The Texas Scorpion/TX/The X' Crash

Finishing moves


 * X-legged Scissors (Twisted Heel Axekick) (2011 - 2012)


 * Sting Kick (Superkick) (2011 - Present ~ under a different name)

Signature moves
 * Spinesmasher (Backbreaker) (2011)
 * Xtrasensory (Pressureclaw to shoulders) (2012)

As Belgian Badass' Kevin Shawn Crash'

Finishing moves


 * Crash Course/Crash Landing (Crash Landing) (2012 - Present)


 * Crashaclysm (Over-The-Shoulder Reverse Piledriver/Rikishi Driver) (2011 - present)

Signature moves
 * Higher Atmosphere/Sky High (Chokeslam) (2012 - )
 * Kick of Mass Destruction/Heartbreak Kick (Superkick) (2011 - Present)

As ' The Ringmaster'  Kevin Shawn Crash

Finishing moves


 * "Lights Off!"/Final Curtain Call (Cobra Clutch) (2013 - Present)


 * Crashaclysm (Air-Raid Siren) (2015 - present)

Signature moves
 * Running Big Boot (2012 - Present)
 * Crash Course (High-Angle Back Drop) (2014-  present)
 * The Whiplash (Superkick) (Rarely used - mostly only in Tag-Team matches)

Nicknames
 * ​The Texas Scorpion
 * Belgian Badass
 * The Brains from Brussels
 * The Phantom of Four Corners
 * The Ringmaster

Entrance Themes
 * Shouting In The Evening - Pet Shop Boys (2014 - present)
 * November Rain - Guns 'n Roses: Slash's Solo Remix (2013 Canadian Tour & Comeback)
 * Psycho Circus - Kiss (as member of The Circus)
 * Kashmir - Led Zeppelin (2013)
 * Das Boot - U69 and the Remix (early 2012) (Used for it's beat-up melodie to mark his return)
 * Lux Aeterna – Clint Mansell (occasionally in 2010) (later used as the Tag-Team song for The Punishment Outlaws)
 * Chainsaw Buffet – Lordi (late 2010) (Used for it's beat-up melodie to mark his return)
 * It Snows In Hell - Lordi (early 2010) (Used for it's dramatical melodie to mark his return)
 * Death song - Marilyn Manson (2009 - 2010)(2011) (replaced Lux Aeterna when it was being used as theme for The Punishment Outlaws and got used after his gimmick change to Kevin Crash)
 * Disco Lies (Remix) – Moby (2007 - 2009)(stopped using it after his gimmick change to Kevin Crash)

Trivia

 * Crash chose the song "Das Boot" to be his theme song for various reasons. One of them being the mispronounciation of the word "boot" as it is supposed to be pronounced in German, whilst many pronounce it in English. This makes it sound like they are talking about the Big Boot move he has adopted. The move itself was called "Das Boot" as well during the time Crash used it. It was dropped after dropping the theme song.
 * Crash has three small tattoos on the inside of his left lower arm, saying "Finn", "Zach" and "Lily". These are the names of his two sons and one daughter.
 * Crash has a "hidden" cooking talent and is not afraid to show this. He has been seen publically giving advice on how to prepare a tender steak with a "summer salad" and was seen on "What's On The Menu, Chef?" preparing a three-course meal.