Modern Day Singles Wrestler
Chris Candido
* Chris Candido received the most votes in both the Modern Day and Pioneer Singles Wrestler Categories. He was put in the Modern Day category to allow for another Pioneer to be inducted. It is a testament to Chris' career that he would be the lead vote getter in BOTH categories.
Stats:
Name: Chris Candido
Hometown:Cartaret, NJ
Birthdate: March 21st 1972
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 226 pounds
Pro Debut: 1986
Married to Tammy Sytch
Top 500 ratings: Ranked # 403 in 1991 top 500, # 422 in 1992, # 83 in
1993,
# 45 in 1994, # 42 in 1995, # 69 in 1996, # 71 in 1997, # 45 in 1998,
# 133 in 1999
Biography
Chris Candido made his pro wrestling debut at the young age of 14 in 1986
against Black Gordman. Not much is known is known about Chris in the next
few years, but on June 3, 1990 he defeated Johnny Hot Body for the WWA
light heavyweight title , and this was the start of a great career. Candido
stayed with the WWA for approximately a further 2 years and won the WWA
light heavyweight title on 2 occasions.
In April 93, he entered Smoky Mountain Wrestling(SMW) and that is where he got nationwide attention. He soon got himself into a memorable feud with Tim Horner. The feud included such matches as "Loser wears a diaper" and baby bottle matches and it was quite an even feud.
On October 4, 1993 Chris won the SMW U.S junior heavyweight title from
Bobby Blaze and in the next week they traded the title a few times with
Blaze ending up with the belt. Arguably Candido's greatest win was on
October 30, 93 at Bensalem Bash 93, against Sabu. Tammy Fytch sprayed
hairspray in Sabu's eyes , blinding him, but more importantly helping
Chris get the victory at 17:41.
Chris also wrestled in ECW in 1993 and captured tag team gold as one half
of The Suicide Blonds with Johnny Hot Body. After they lost the titles
and were trounced in a feud against The Super Destroyers, they soon vanished.
In early ' 94 Chris was teamed up with Brian Lee in SMW and shortly after being paired, under the guidance of Tammy Fytch, they won the SMW tag straps. As on April 23 they defeated The legendary Rock and Roll Express for the titles. On August 5, they lost the titles back to the Rock and Roll Express but were able to reclaim them the next night. 2 days later they lost the titles back to The Rock and Roll Express and that was the last time any of them won SMW gold. Tammy and Chris soon turned on Brian Lee and this erupted a big feud in which Candido dominated due to Tammy's interference.
On November 19, 1994 Chris Candido beat Tracy Smothers in the final for
the vacant NWA title and was crowned the new champ.
Candido, still wrestling in SMW, brought his childhood friend, Boo Bradley
into Smoky Mountain. The two were quite a successful duo but didn't last
long as on December 25, 1994 Candido and Boo lost to Tracy Smothers and
Cactus Jack, which led to the two of them breaking up and staring a feud.
Boo Bradley defeated Chris in a series of "loser eats dog food"
matches, but it was Chris who had the last laugh. During their feud, Candido
splashed Boo's cat from the top rope!!.
On February 24, 1995 Chris lost his NWA heavyweight title to Dan Severn.
His rough patch didn't end their as 2 days later he lost a loser leaves
SMW match to Boo Bradley.
Chris soon parted to the WWF under the alias of Bodydonna Skip, with
Sunny(Tammy Sytch) by his side. On entrance he scored big wins over such
wrestlers as Doink The Clown, Aldo Montoya, Bob Holly, Duke Droese and
The 123 Kid(X Pac).
On July, 8, 1995 Skip was pinned by prelim wrestler Barry Horowitz and
this caused great embarrassment for The Bodydonnas(Skip and Sunny). Skip
then said that it was a fluke and came out and said that Horowitz could
not last 10 minutes in the ring with him. Horowitz held Skip to a 10 minute
time limit draw and caused even more embarrassment for Skip. At Summerslam
95 Skip lost yet again to Horowitz and was arguably at the lowest point
of his career. Skip finally defeated Horowitz on September 8 due to Sunny's
interference.
Skip was then dominated in a feud with Hakushi, and seeing that her man
was in trouble, Sunny brought a second Bodydonna to the federation in
Zip(Tom Pritchard) and at that moment The Bodydonnas were formed. The
Bodydonnas soon became a title threat and were given many title shots
against The Smoking Gunns, but although coming close, they were never
able to unseat the then champions.
In early 96, The Smoking Gunns had to vacate the tag titles and this left
the door open for The Bodydonnas.
At Wrestlemania 12, thanks to Sunny's interference, The Bodydonnas captured
the tag titles by defeating The Godwinns. In May The Bodydonnas lost the
titles to The Godwinns and were deserted by Sunny, who was so disappointed
by their performance. The Bodydonnas struggled in the next few months
and even hired themselves a new manager in Cloudy(an imitation of Sunny).
They slowly died down and soon left the WWF. ( Really, Chris was injured
and was out of action for a few months, he and WWF parted ways).
After recovering from injury, Chris returned to ECW and defeated Mikey Whipwreck at November to Remember '96. Chris soon formed the deadly triple threat with Shane Douglas and Brian Lee. Chris was part of the ECW invasion which invaded WWF TV.
Brian Lee left ECW in 97, so Bam Bam Bigelow replaced him in the triple
threat. Chris soon got himself in an unsuccessful feud with Taz as he
lost to Taz at Hardcore Heaven '97.
Chris soon formed a a great tag team with Lance Storm. On December 6,
1997 Candido and Storm defeated Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon and Axl Rotten
and Balls Mahoney in a 3 way dance to win the ECW tag titles. After a
lengthy reign, Chris and Lance dropped the titles to Sabu and Rob Van
Dam on June 27, 1998 at the ECW arena.
Soon Candido and Storm didn't see eye to eye and became involved in a memorable feud. On August 8 at Heatwave 98 Candido defeated Lance Storm. On the same night Tammy Sytch made her return to ECW. At first Sytch was with Lance Storm , but she soon turned on him and accompanied her old compatriot, Chris Candido. This sparked a huge feud with Storm and his new valet Tammy Lynn Bytch (Dawn Marie) and became one of the longest running feuds in wrestling at the time.
Candido's group , The Triple Threat started a feud with Rob Van Dam, Taz and Sabu and paid for it. At November to Remember 98 they were defeated by the Latter. Bam Bam Bigelow soon departed for WCW and the triple threat folded.
At Guilty as Charged '99, Chris and Tammy turned their backs on Shane Douglas and his manager Francine and helped Taz to defeat Douglas for the world title. Candido then took a few months off wrestling but returned at Cyberslam '99. At Hardcore Heaven 99, Candido was defeated yet again by Taz and took some more time off.
(Originally Written by Brett Schwan in 1995 with additions made through 1999 (for ECW) )
CHRISTOPHER CANDITO, 33, MATAWAN
Published in the Home News Tribune 04/30/05
Christopher B. Candito, 33, of Matawan, a longtime resident of Spring Lake, died suddenly Thursday, April 28, 2005, at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
Born in Edison, he lived in Spring Lake until moving to Matawan 10 years ago. He had attended H.W. Mountz Grammar School, Spring Lake, Red Bank Catholic High School, Red Bank, and had attended the University of Tennessee. He was involved in wrestling competitively since he was 14 years old. He was a former communicant of St. Catharine's and St. Margaret's Parish, Spring Lake.
Chris was a professional wrestler for many years. His family wrote this of Chris: Chris Candito will be regarded as one of, if not the best professional wrestlers in the history of the sport. He held more titles than can be counted, including the WWE tag team titles, ECW tag team titles, WCW cruiserweight title, and the NWA world title, just to mention a few. He wholeheartedly loved the art of professional wrestling and passed on at the peak of his career. To know him was to love him, as he was a passionate, determined, and ever-benevolent human being. He is seen as an angel by many, proving the old adage "only the good die young." He will live on eternally as a "legend of the squared circle." Truly one of a kind, as a person, he was the kindest, most caring and giving individual you would ever want to meet. His legacy has only just begun. All who knew "No Gimmicks Needed" would agree that nobody does it better. "CC, We miss you already."
He is survived by his wife, Tamara Sytch; his father and stepmother, Donald and Gisele Candito of Middletown; his mother and stepfather, Margaret "Peggy" and Gregory Rea of Spring Lake; two sisters, Amanda and Amy Rea, and a brother, Jonathan Rea, all of Spring Lake; and his grandmother, Margaret Kunak of Nazareth, Pa.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, May 3, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Catharine's R.C. Church, Spring Lake. Visitation will be held on Monday from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at O'Brien Funeral Home, Highway 35 at New Bedford Road, Wall. Committal of his remains will be held privately by his family at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Christopher B. Candito Foundation, c/o Bank of New York, 1310 Third Ave., Spring Lake, NJ 07762, for the establishment of a scholarship to benefit a student at his alma mater, H.W. Mountz Grammar School, Spring Lake, who demonstrates excellence by his/her performance during the academic year
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