Former WWE Superstar Colin Delaney made his return to the WWE Universe for the first time since August 12, 2008 when he lost an Extreme Rules match to Tommy Dreamer on an episode of ECW on SciFi, appearing as part of the tag team that faced The Bludgeon Brothers (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan) on tonight’s Smackdown Live. And to indie fans who follow the super fun CHIKARA promotion, they may have recognized his tag team partner as none other than CHIKARA Grand Champion Juan Francisco de Coronado.
Colin Delaney began his indie career as Colin Olsen in 2005, wrestling in such promotions as CZW, CHIKARA, and various NWA indies, before becoming the original James Ellsworth in the WWE in 2007. He made a few appearances as an enhancement talent on WWE’s ECW brand and after a particularly nasty beatdown from The Miz and John Morrison, he was saved by Tommy Dreamer. And a cult hero was born. For nearly a year he was the flyweight underdog that everyone loved, until he turned on Dreamer and cost him the ECW Championship. After his final match against his former saviour, Delaney was released in 2008. Since then, he’s remained incredibly active on the indie circuit, where he regularly wrestles for such promotions as Ohio’s Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), New York’s Upstate Wrestling, and Buffalo’s Empire State Wrestling (ESW).
His partner, although named “Joe Malone” on Smackdown Live tonight, is the current reigning CHIKARA Grand Champion Juan Francisco de Coronado, the top heel in the funnest family friendly promotion you’ll see. He’s a four year veteran of CHIKARA after several years elsewhere. Coronado’s comedic work in CHIKARA came into play tonight as he was in classic cartoon heel mode during his encounter with the sizably larger opponents in the Bludgeon Brothers.
It’s always fun to see old faces and indie workhorses show up on shows like Smackdown or Raw, even if it’s just for a fleeting glimpse.
EXCLUSIVE: How did it feel for @ExtremelyCute to be back inside a @WWE ring for the first time in nearly a decade on #SDLive?! Besides painful, of course… pic.twitter.com/Hwd9CpzGax
— WWE (@WWE) December 13, 2017
