Post by Nick Blade on Aug 15, 2016 12:25:25 GMT -5
Ring Name: Nick Blade
Actual Name: Nicholas Cratin
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 245 lbs
Finisher: The Blade's Edge - A powerbomb lift where Blade then falls backwards, dropping the opponent's throat on the top rope. Powerbomb into a hot shot.
Signature: Guillotine Choke (sub) or Double Knee Facebuster (Code Breaker)
GWA Accolades
GWA Top 25 of All Time
2x GWA Hall of Fame Inductee
1x GWA World Champion
3x GWA Tag Team Champion
1x GWA International Champion
2x GWA Tag Team of the Year
4x GWA Most Hated Wrestler
2x GWA Spokesperson of the Year
1x GWA Most Improved Wrestler
2x GWA Family of the Year
1x GWA Match of the Year
3x GWA Feud of the Year
1x GWA Surprise of the Year
1x GWA Promo of the Year
The History of Blade
Nicholas Cratin's career began in 1996 in WWA. WWA was initially built as an opposition to the Global Wrestling Alliance and it housed some of the talent that wasn't seasoned enough or serious enough for the GWA. Nick came in with his best friend, Ryan Cage, and quickly partnered up with GWA veteran Dial 0 Kid, under the guises of The 1-800 Kid and The 1-900 Kid, as The Phone Company. Early on, Nick and Ryan were both young high flyers that would take to the air and had nothing to lose.
After they spent a while in the trenches of WWA, Nick and Ryan both sought after the glamour of the bigger stage and went into training to join the ranks of the GWA. It was here, in the bowels of the GWA training camp, where Nick Blade and Ryan Cage were broken into the business. During a routine sparring match with James "The Crippler" Naismith, Blade found his first major knee injury due to a submission maneuver that sidelined his future and assured that he'd never be much of a high flyer again.
Once cleared for action, Blade and Cage immediately burst onto the scene in GWA as a formidable tag team duo under the moniker of The New Revolution. It didn't take long at all before Nick's talent on the microphone with trash talking became evident, as he talked TnR's way into a GWA Tag Team Title match against the Brothers of Insanity, LudiCris and Mr. Maniac, who had a mandatory title defense. Obviously underestimated, The New Revolution took the GWA Tag Titles and had a short one month reign. When Blade had to no show for their mandatory defense a month later due to knee problems, Cage picked up a random partner and tried to defend to no avail.
1997 proved both a gift and a curse for The New Revolution. Cage came into his second season strong as the Rookie of the Year and eventually went on to win both Wrestler of the Year and the GWA World Title in singles competition. Blade had a harder time adjusting to being a singles wrestler and started out going 0-9. A feat that would inevitably lead him to the Most Improved Wrestler Award that year. Season 15 may have proved troubling in the wrestling department, but the struggles in the ring seemed to have a positive impact on Nick's talent on the microphone. As his anger shined through about his losing ways and his disdain felt for his opponents was vocalized, it led him to be awarded as the Most Hated Man of the Year. This was quite possibly Nick Blade's most cherished prize, as he went on to call himself "The Most Hated Man In Wrestling" and antagonized opponents with catch phrases such as, "I'm the chair-swingin', hard-drinkin', mother-beepin' Most Hated Man." As he took the stage that season at the GWA Awards Ceremony to accept his award from the previous season's winner, Mr. Sinister, a feud that would continue on until today and be carried over from company to company was born as the two glared in each other's eyes and words were shared.
The New Revolution stuck around the Global Wrestling Alliance a little longer, but it was becoming obvious that the GWA was being phased out and a new style of wrestling was being branded within the squared circles shared by the National Wrestling Council. Under the NWC, regional companies competed to show that they were the superior brand. Blade and Cage, who were bored with their TnR shtick, rebranded themselves as Zero Tolerance and signed on with the NWC territory known as The Big Apple Wrestling Federation. Owned and operated by "Magic" Mark Greene, who also currently runs Tuesday Night Spotlight, BAWF looked to make itself the staple of the NWC as the New York affiliate. Zero Tolerance proved to be the tag team to contend with in BAWF as they started gaining steam and recognition by defeating a few of the local teams. It looked promising for them to get a shot at the NWC Tag Team Titles when the opportunity came around for a BAWF tag team to go to the big show. The last leg of the BAWF tag tournament to find out which team got to contend for the NWC Tag Titles was a battle royal style match between The NeXt Generation and Zero Tolerance. Unfortunately, a BAWF referee didn't notice that the last member of NeXt Gen had been eliminated from the match and it allowed him to reenter the ring and eliminate Zero Tolerance. Distraught by their misfortune and thinking they were screwed by NWC management, Blade and Cage packed their bags and left BAWF.
After BAWF, Zero Tolerance took some time off. They emerged for two more runs in NWC before it closed its doors. Once in Phoenix Underground Wrestling, where they were hired as help from PUW management to violently dispose of wrestlers that were riding the bench and taking up space on their roster. They returned again in Minnesota State Wrestling in 2000. Their MSW run was almost identical to their prior BAWF run, but the screw job they endured was a lot more blatant. Once again they wrestled their way to the final stretch of a tag team tournament that would lead them to an NWC Tag Title opportunity. Left in the running were Zero Tolerance, Crash & Burn, and The Homeless Shelter. Before the match, MSW management and the NWC decided to add another team to the tournament on the last round. Animosity not only entered the tournament, they of course went on to win it and the NWC Tag Titles. Noticing that the NWC Tag Titles were being handed out now and not contended for as respected belts, Zero Tolerance left the National Wrestling Council and Nick Blade only returned when asked to by Mark Greene to feud with Mr. Sinister during the BAWF reunion shows in 2011-2012.
After the BAWF reunion, Mark Greene and other members of GWA management got together and decided to rebuild the Global Wrestling Alliance in 2012. Since Greene was happy with Blade and Sinister's work for his reunion circuit, they were both contacted to return to their roots. Zero Tolerance once again came back to full active duty, and Zero Tolerance faced off with The Assassins (Mr. Sinister/Rockshade) at GWA's first return pay-per-view, Resurrection.
Since the return of the GWA, Zero Tolerance has feuded with The Round Table and The One Percent. They retired Every Woman's Dream (Tony Pride/"Sexy" Steve Sire) from ever being able to compete together as a tag team again. As a tag team, Blade and Cage were collectively inducted into the GWA's Tag Team Hall of Fame and Blade was also inducted into the singles Hall of Fame as well. After heated problems with the management in GWA, Zero Tolerance left for two years and returned recently at Riot in the Ring for Season 25.