Wrestler's Name: Curtis Durrington
Hometown: Daphne, Alabama
Date of Birth: 5/19/1985
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 228lbs
Alignment: Face
Pic Base: Dean Malenko
Entrance Musice: "Country Heros" by Hank Williams III
Appearance:
Ring Attire: Durrington wears traditional black wrestling trunks with an outline in white of the state of Alabama on the seat of the trunks. His thick black kneepads have been a career-long feature, but the large metal brace on his right knee is a much more recent addition. His black wrestling boots are always polished and the normal shoe-strings have been replaced with red ones. Durrington will normally enter a ring with a Crimson Tide t-shirt, which he will take off and toss into the crowd prior to his match.
Backstage Attire: Curtis is clean cut and presents himself well. Outside of the ring, he's often sporting Wranglers, cowboy boots, and an old ragged ball cap. His dark hair is kept short and neat. Rarely will he carry facial hair, and when he does it is never more than five o’clock shadow.
Wrestler Style: Technical
Finisher Name: Daphne Deathlock
Finisher Description: Half-Nelson choke with body scissors
Signature Moves: Belly-to-Belly Suplex, Belly-to-Back Suplex, Fisherman Suplex, STF, Release German Suplex
Background / History:
Curtis Durrington was born into a middle class farming family in Daphne, Alabama. His childhood was nothing special. He played high school baseball and played guitar for a few country "cover" bands back home. He was an all-American boy. Nothing any different from most kids across the south.
At the ripe age of 18, farming wasn't where Durrington wanted to be. He left Daphne, complete with his parent's blessings in the his '85 Ford. His destination wasn't known at the time and continued to be in question as he bounded from state-to-state, city-to-city. A higher power...and flat tire...stopped him in New Haven, New Mexico.
New Haven isn't a "haven" for much of anything. It houses a county high school and a couple of run down gas stations as well as a few "farms" spotting the desert backdrop. It was by pure chance the old Ford came to a stop in front of one of New Haven's newer establishments. That building, bright blue metal with "The Pit" adorning a sign hanging over it's entrance would change Curtis Durrington's life forever.
New Haven happens to be the home of one of the greatest men in the wrestling business, "The Icon" Chris Lee. Lee, a multi-time champ and professional wrestling ‘retiree’, also happens to own "The Pit", his own wrestling school.
A friendship was born that day. That friendship lead to Curtis's interest in professional wrestling and ultimately his arrival in World Pro Wrestling. Lee was on his way to winnging the WpW Big Gold championship and managed to bring the 19 year old Durrington with him. Seen as a microphone liability at the time, Durrington was given a southern rock gimmick and the stage name “Freebird” Curtis Lowe. Unfortunetly, Durrington never did catch solid footing within World Pro Wrestling and would wash out in late 2005 over growing frustrations with World Pro Wrestling handling of his career. A member of Lee’s G-Force group, with “The Icon”, David Capital, and Kelly Capital, Durrington was a fixture on WpW TV as both a singles and tag wrestler.
After leaving World Pro Wrestling in late 2005, Durrington took the opportunity to undergo a minor shoulder surgey and with Lee’s connections found IWU in April 2006. While in IWU, Durrington took the organization by storm. His first IWU victory came in his debut match as he won an over-the-top Battle Royal for the right to face Seth at "New Dawn" for the Downtown Title. Sadly, things didn't come to fruition. The Independent Wrestling Union folded two days before the filming of "New Dawn", due to financial struggles. The closure left Durrington unemployed for the time being.
However, less than three days after IWU closed its doors, another offer came Durrington's way. The Blazenwing Wrestling Federation extended a contract offer to the budding superstar. "Big Country" signed immediately, and won his debut match in quick fashion. The victory, over former IWU member Cody Galle, saw Durrington win a thousand dollars. His next match would turn out to be worth much more. On May 7, 2006, Curtis Durrington successfully defeated Yumi Misake to become BWF Cruiser-X Champion!
On May 27th, Durrington's streak came to an end. Tyger Lilly pinned Krystal Lyne in the Cruiser-X Crackdown match to win Durrington's Cruiser-X Championship. The loss dropped his career record to 3-1-0.
Durrington did not fight another match as a BWF wrestler. The organization was going through a turbulent period, and Durrington chose to opt out and return to New Haven, where he served as a guest trainer at the Chris Lee Wrestling Academy.
January 10, 2007 saw Curtis Durrington restart his wrestling career, as "Big Country" inked a contract with Championship Wrestling from Florida, a regional wrestling organization working the Tampa area. Entered into their inaugural Florida Champions League tournament, Durrington made a big impression as he defeated Billie Stradlin in his debut match via his patented Daphne Deathlock. “Big Country” would go on to dispose of “The Hangman” in the second round of the Florida Champions League tournament.
Championship Wrestling from Florida closed their doors four days after Durrington's victory over “The Hangman“ in February 2007. For over a year, he returned to New Mexico and spent time working at the Chris Lee Wrestling Academy and lending a hand to the now-defunct Desert Sun Wrestling…an organization founded by Chris Lee.
However, Durrington couldn’t hide his desire to wrestle again...and Mid West Wrestling gave him that opportunity in February 2008. Unfortunately, MWW was closed with little warning prior to Durrington’s debut against Jacob Foster.
Following the quick demise of MWW, Durrington began to face personal troubles…all centered around his dependence on the bottle. While few people knew of the alcohol problems facing “Big Country”, the liquor took it toll both professionally and personally. With demons on his back, Durrington signed a pay-per-appearance agreement with Supreme Wrestling in July 2009.
As a member of Supreme Wrestling, Durrington would defeat Brian Sinel in his July 20 debut, before competing to a draw in six-man tag action on August 3 and falling to “The Idol” on August 10. Following his match with “The Idol”, Durrington oddly walked away from Supreme Wrestling citing “personal issues”, and subsequently hasn’t wrestled professionally since.
Durrington voluntarily entered an alcohol rehabilitation program on May 15, 2010 and spent 90 days within the program. Upon completion, Durrington returned to the Chris Lee Wrestling Academy in an administrative role in the absence of CLWA owner Chris Lee, who underwent major knee surgery. Durrington, to this point, has not entered the ring professionally since August 10, 2009.
“Big Country” would resurface in July 2011 in impressive fashion with Pacific Championship Wrestling out of Santa Barbara, California. Durrington would rip off the straight wins, over Mark Hunter, Herold Rot and John Matthews, before opting to leave PCW for Galveston Island Wrestling in Galveston, Texas. Durrington’s debut match in GIW was held on Thursday, August 18 and saw Durrington defeat Matthew Dannys. Since GIW runs a set schedule, Durrington is able to add additional dates on the independent scene, including those for Peach State Wrestling.
