Bobby Walker Biography

This article is about the professional wrestler. For other uses, see Robert Walker (disambiguation).

Bobby Walker is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he competed as "Hardwork" Bobby Walker. He wrestled for WCW from 1992 until 2000 and later filed a lawsuit against the company for racial discrimination.

Career

Walker made his professional debut in 1989. Wrestling as Hurricane Walker in 1990, he challenged for the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship; teaming with Brian Knobs, he competed for the vacant title against Robert Fuller and Kendall Windham but was unable to win the title. When it was vacated again, he paired with Joe Gomez in another unsuccessful attempt to win the championship. He and Tim Parker won the championship belts in late 1990 by defeating Sgt. Rock and Mark Starr but soon dropped the title to Sgt. Rock and Ron Slinker.

Walker made brief appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in July 1991, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in November 1991, and the International Championship Wrestling Alliance in 1992. In 1991, he was rated number 354 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual ranking of the top 500 wrestlers in the world; the following year, he was ranked at number 365. He later trained at the WCW Power Plant, a training facility operated by WCW. He made his WCW debut in 1992 under the name Robbie Walker. Originally he was scheduled to team with Ron Simmons at the Clash of the Champions against Cactus Jack, Tony Atlas, and The Barbarian in a handicap match, but was injured and was replaced by the debuting 2 Cold Scorpio. After nearly a year recovering and working house shows for WCW, he returned under the name Bobby Walker and appeared in a televised match as part of a tag team with Jason Johnson in a loss to Harlem Heat on the January 8, 1994, episode of WCW Saturday Night.

Managed by Teddy Long, Walker competed as a jobber to the stars in WCW, losing the majority of his matches but winning occasional bouts against lower-level wrestlers. He wrestled his only pay-per-view match at WCW's first World War 3 event. He competed in a three-ring, sixty wrestler battle royal, which was won by Randy Savage.

In 1996, Walker was chosen to team with The Barbarian at Slamboree for the Lethal Lottery, but after he was injured by Lex Luger on a WCW Saturday Night, Walker was replaced by the returning Diamond Dallas Page, who would eventually win the battle royal. Walker later wrestled in a dark match prior to Bash at the Beach 1996, in which he defeated Billy Kidman. The following month, he teamed with Mr. J.L. for a dark match prior to Clash of the Champions XXXIII; they were defeated by The Nasty Boys. He continued to appear with the company until 2000.

Personal life

Walker is the nephew of retired professional wrestler Thunderbolt Patterson. In 2000, he filed a lawsuit against WCW, alleging racial discrimination. He stated that his Caucasian opponents were told to make him look bad and that he was told that he would never hold a championship belt. He also stated that he was paid less than many of the company's Caucasian wrestlers. The suit also stated that African American wrestlers were made to look "loud, obnoxious, pompous and shiftless". On April 3, 2001, a judge ruled that WCW had not committed fraud or breached the contracts of the plaintiffs. He also ruled that the discrimination lawsuit could proceed. Because the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment, had purchased WCW after the lawsuit was filed, Walker's lawyer stated that the plaintiffs would pursue legal action against the WWF. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

In wrestling

• Finishing move
  • Quittin' Time (Diving headbutt to a standing opponent or a Rope walk flying clothesline)

• Managers
  • Teddy Long

Championships and accomplishments

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tim Parker