Robert Stone
Robert Strauss[6] (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand, as a manager under the ring name Robert Stone. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Robbie E, where he is a former two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion as part of The BroMans with Jessie Godderz, while also being a former one-time TNA Television Champion and TNA X Division Champion. He has also competed in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions under the ring name Rob Eckos, including Chaotic Wrestling,[7] the East Coast Wrestling Association,[8] Hardway Wrestling, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling[6] and Mikey Whipwreck’s New York Wrestling Connection.
Early life and career
Strauss began watching professional wrestling at the age of 4[9][10] and was a fan of The Ultimate Warrior, Sting[11] and Shawn Michaels. He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler while at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in his hometown of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, even though he was skinny at 160 pounds (73 kg).[12] He saw his first live event at a local wrestling show in Woodbridge Township, headlined by “Iron” Mike Sharpe and later became interested in becoming a professional wrestler. When he turned 16, Strauss began training at Kevin Knight’s Camp IWF in Woodland Park, New Jersey,[13] where he practiced regular drills and exercises for four months until his debut against Chad Warwick on October 1, 2000.[14] For a few short years, he taught at Woodbridge High School as a physical education teacher.
Independent circuit (2001–2015)
Eckos spent his early career in the Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF), a local promotion based in Woodland Park, New Jersey, defeating Damian Adams at West Orange High School on January 21, 2001. He also participated in a 12-man battle royal later that night which included Dr. Hurtz, Marc Verow, BJ Thomas, Damian Adams, Jade Divine, HP Walker, Hadrian, Josh Daniels, Psycho Bitch, Tony Rage and Rapid Fire Maldonado.
On February 11, he lost to Kevin Knight and Damian Adams in two separate matches at an IWF show in West Peterson. He and Hadrian lost a tag team match to Roman & Kevin Knight on March 4 and faced Kasey Coresh, Damian Adams and Tony Balboa in singles matches during the next few weeks. On May 20, he defeated Hadrian via disqualification and, on June 3, he beat Tony Balboa at the West Orange Community Center. He also participated in a 12-man battle royal which included Dr. Hurtz, Damian Adams, Josh Daniels, Rapid Fire Maldonado, Tony Balboa, BPA Barry, Ryan Lockhart, Kasey Coresh, St. Patrick, Mr. Mike and Biggie Biggs. Eckos lost to Hadrian at the Brookwood Lounge Outdoor Car Show in Jackson, New Jersey, several days later.
On July 7, 2001, Eckos scored another disqualification win over Roman in Edison, New Jersey. The following night however, he lost to Roman in a match for the IWF Heavyweight Championship. On July 26, he beat Kasey Coresh and Ryan Lockhart in a three-way match and faced both in single matches during the next few weeks. On September 15, he and Josh Daniels lost to Damian Adams & Hadrian. He also lost to Josh Daniels the following night. Losing to Roman in a rematch for the IWF Heavyweight Title on October 28, 2001, he also entered a 15-man Royal Rumble whose participants included Roman, Shane O’Brien, Sir Michael, Ryan Lockhart, Biggie Biggs, Rapid Fire Maldonado, BPA Barry, Psycho B*tch, John Royal, Mr. Mike Winner, Hadrian, Josh Daniels, Damian Adams and Kevin Knight. Losing to Roman in a three-way match with Kevin Knight on November 24, he defeated Erik Andretti the following night. On December 29, 2001, Eckos and Dylan Black lost to Roman & Hadrian in a tag team match. The show was later broadcast on News 12 New Jersey. He also entered the 2-day IWF “Tournament of Champions” and defeated Shane O’Brien in the opening rounds but was eliminated by Josh Daniels in the quarterfinals on December 30, 2001.[15]
In January 2002, Eckos was one of several independent wrestlers to star in a commercial for the 2002 Royal Rumble.[6]
On June 29, 2002, Eckos made his debut in 3PW at A War Renewed losing to Josh Daniels at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On September 9, he also defeated Ryan Wing for the SSCW Lightweight Championship in Paramus, New Jersey. He would make three more appearances in 3PW later that year defeating White Lotus at A Night for the Flyboy on October 19, 2002, and facing Joey Matthews and Josh Prohibition in a 3-Way Dance at Return of the Dream on November 23. He was pinned by Matthews after a 12-minute match. At Year End Mayhem, he defeated Damian Adams in a singles match and, later on, in a tag team match with Matt Striker against Damian Adams & Josh Prohibition on December 28, 2002.[16] The following night, he won the JCW Junior Heavyweight title from Jay Lethal in Union City, New Jersey.
On March 15, 2003, he lost to Billy Reil in a four corner ladder match with Low Rida and Abunai in Passaic, New Jersey, for the ICW Super Juniors Championship.[17] Suffering a serious injury that same month, he was forced to vacate the JCW Junior Heavyweight Championship in Garfield, New Jersey, on March 23. He lost the SSCW Lightweight Championship to Dave Webb in a 3-Way Dance with Johnny Ova five days later in Clifton, New Jersey. On March 28, 2003, Eckos returned to defeat The Sandman for the SSCW Heavyweight Championship. The Sandman had won the vacant title that same night.
Eckos also made three appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on their secondary Xplosion television show, losing to Josh Daniels on May 21, 2003, Norman Smiley on August 6, 2003, and to Team Canada (Eric Young and Johnny Devine) in a tag team match, where he teamed with Damian Adams, on July 4, 2004.[18][19] He and Matt Striker defeated Christian York & Joey Matthews at A New Era on June 21 and Amish Roadkill at That’s Incredible on August 19. Later that year, he and Billy Bax defeated Johnny and Joey Maxx for the ECWA Tag Team titles in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 6, 2003. They held the titles for over two years before eventually losing to The Heavyweights (Sean Royal & Dan Eckos) in Newark, Delaware.
Losing the SSCW Heavyweight title to Damian Adams on November 7, 2003, he also lost to The Blue Meanie at Raven’s Rules on November 22. On December 27, 2003, he made his 3PW appearance for the year beating CJ O’Doyle at Su-Su-Superfly at the ECW Arena.[16]
